In Between
by uomoape
Summary: Starts during the arrest of Mayor Dawn Bellwether and follows Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps during the time between that and the Graduation Cerimony scene. Yeah I know, shocking right? Never done before! Still, I had this idea since I first saw the movie, and finally got my ass to do it. Hope you enjoy some of this trash..
1. Chapter 1 - Busted!

**A/N: Here we are then. The start of this untold (by me at least) journey. Hope you enjoy what you're about to read, and that my writing doesn't scare you away from FanFiction in general forever.**

* * *

This was bad, she knew as much, but she could still come out as victor. She just needed to keep her cool and everything would be alright. They had nothing on her, no one had, that's why she was able to become mayor in the first place, there was no evidence of her involvement with the Night Howlers.

"Ooh, actually..." ' _No. No, no, no, no._ ' The bunny that had recently become the bane of her existence whipped out a carrot pen.

" _And I'll dart every predator in Zootopia to keep it that way,"_ her voice echoed in the museum, but she didn't utter a word. Her face quickly morphed into confusion. ' _When… How…_ '

"It's your word against yours. It's called a hustle sweetheart! Boom," the bane continued, now with a smile so smug on her face, it could rival the one on the fox standing beside her, helping her stand on her feet.

Everything came crushing on her at once. She had been fooled. Those two managed not only to swap the serum from the gun, but record a confession too. She had to run, if she was quick enough she could get t- Her train of thought died instantly when she turned around and saw the looming figure of Chief Bogo barring her retreat. In that moment Mayor Dawn Bellwether realised she got busted, and in a barely audible whisper she uttered her last words as a free mammal, "Oh, mutton chops…"

* * *

The museum was bustling with activity now, officers running to and fro collecting evidence, cordoning scenes and keeping the media, that seemed to appear out of thin air at the slightest mention of a crime, out of the way so that they could do their work. Now that everything was under control, Chief Bogo allowed himself to relax, even if only a little. He trusted his officers, and knew that he could trust his life in their paws. Speaking of officers, the only one to ever quit the force under his command was now sitting in the exhibitional pit right below him. Not only had she uncovered one of the biggest conspiracies of the history of Zootopia, again, but she did so without the help of the ZPD, again. The fox that helped her on her first case was there too.

After he openly challenged him in the Rainforest District, Bogo decided to look him up in the system, and was unsurprised when nothing came of it. He didn't get to be the Chief after stopping at the first set back however, and did some more digging through more, _unconventional_ ways, finally being able to put a name to the seemingly constantly smug face of the fox. Turns out he's Nicholas Wilde, small time hustler that skirted just above the edge of crime, never quite taking the plunge, but never backing up either. According to Judy's report on the 'Missing Mammals' case, he was a cardinal point in the resolution of the mystery and by the look of things, he played an important role this time around as well. He had to talk to both of them sooner than later, but for now he had to make sure they were alright, and judging by the look of extreme discomfort on the bunny's face everytime she moved her leg, she might be injured. A shiver of concern traveled the length of the stoic buffalo spine.

"Hopps, everything alright down there?" he asked in his usual gruff and booming voice. He didn't mean that to come out as aggressive as it did, but after years of being the Chief of Police in a city as big and full of mammals as Zootopia, having to deal with every kind of crime everyday, being curt and to the point had become second nature to him. He had lost count on how many time his wife berated him for addressing her with his 'cop voice' as she dubbed it. To her credit however, Hopps didn't even flinch, simply smiling and responding in a cheery voice,

"Everything is fine, Sir! Just waiting to get out of here!" that slightly improved the gruff buffalo's mood, up until the fox to her side opened his damned mouth, "Speaking of," Nick added, voice dripping with sarcasm, "if it happened some time this year, that would be lovely," and just like that, any shred of sympathy he might have had for the vulpine evaporated like a snowball in Sahara Square.

"Shut your mouth, fox!" bellowed the Chief, already fed up with his attitude after only a few words. The response he got was a lazy two fingers salute, which only helped in souring his already plummeting mood. He snorted at that and turned on his heels. He hated to admit it, even if only to himself, but Wilde had a point. They needed to get out there, and it was up to him to make that happen. "Higgins call dispatch! I want a bus down here and I want it yesterday! Grizzoli, get Wolford and go down to the subway station and set up a perimeter! And for the love of everything that is holy, someone find a damn ladder and get those two out of there!". All the addressed officers sharply saluted and echoed "Yessir!" before turning and started to work on the newly received orders. Bogo suppressed a small smile at the efficiency of his underlings, ' _Good_ '.

* * *

Sitting on one of the fake rocks of the exhibit she was currently trapped in, Judy Hopps was feeling a lot of things all at once.

She felt tired after dealing with all the ordeals she had to go through to get here, pain from the injury on her right leg, that wouldn't stop throbbing with her every heartbeat and happy that everything had come to a close, the bad guy was behind bars and the city was safe once again. Most of all however, she felt proud. Proud of finally solving the case and saving the city in the process. She had now became the hero everyone seeme to think she was all those months ago. She knew it was undeserved at the time, she didn't help the city, she only worsened the already airy state it was in, hurting every predator of the community while doing so. Now however, it felt right to think of herself as the heroine of the story, ultimately being able to achieve her kithood dream; Making the world a better place, and she knew she wouldn't be able to do so without the help of the fox sitting beside her, who was currently examining her wound, making sure it wasn't bleeding too much. It was him that knew where to find Weaselton, and it was his quick thinking that allowed them to come up with the switch of the serum. He saved both of their life that day, and she was sure she would never forget that.

"Earth to Carrots, are you there?" called Nick, breaking her out of her reverie, a slightly concerned look on his muzzle.

She quickly nodded, and with a smile that could melt an iceberg in two seconds flat she responded, "Sorry, was just thinking on how lucky I am to be with you, Slick"

"Whoa Fluff, I'm flattered, but this is a little too fast for me. We could at least go on a couple dates before diving straight into marriage." Replied Nick, a shiteating grin accompanied with a set of half lidded eyes to complete the cheeky expression he so often wore on his face. Blood rushed to the bunny's ear and cheeks at the implication, then her nose going into overdrive realising her own wording.

With a firm punch directed to his shoulder and a barely contained shout, she shot back, "Nick! You know _damn_ well that was not what I meant!".

In response, Nick only chuckled while massaging the now sore spot right above his arm, before assuming a more serious face, "Joking aside, how're you feeling? Everything okay?" he asked, the same look of concern as before quickly replacing the seriousness. Despite the fight they had, and the months they spent apart he still cared for her, even after she unintentionally hurt him along with all the predators in Zootopia, he was still looking out for her, and that made the fondness she was feeling for him plant even deeper roots into her core.

She didn't have time to dwell on it however, because she soon realised that Nick was still waiting for an answer, now standing in front of her. "I'm fine, really!" she quickly assured, "Just coming to terms with everything that happened. My leg _is_ starting to throb though." she confessed, the pain now even more prominent than before.

"Yeah about that, stay still for a moment will ya? Need to check if the bleeding stopped, or at least didn't get worse," as he was speaking, Nick repositioned himself, now crouching in front of her injured leg, and started to slowly unwrap the makeshift tourniquet he applied earlier, examining the gash that run through the length of her shin. This elicited a small whimper from Judy and the fox's ears pivoted in her direction, although his eyes never left the wound.

After little more than a minute of careful observation, coupled with the occasional sniff, Nick seemed somewhat satisfied of the condition of her leg, and gently rewrapped it a second time, making sure to be as careful as possible so not to hurt the already fatigued bunny more than what was necessary. "Well good news is you're not going to bleed to death, at least for now," he exclaimed shooting a grin in her way.

"Har, Har," was the immediate response from Judy, already more than accustomed with is wit.

"But I'm not sure if it's infected or not," continued Nick, "I didn't smell anything wrong with it, but I could be wrong since my medical knowledge only goes so far," he admitted, finally looking her way. He saw confusion on her face and mimicked it, "What?"

She continued her confused staring before asking, "What do you mean you don't _smell_ anything wrong?"

Nick smirked at that, and while pointing at his nose, explained, "Well, it may not be as good as a wolf's one, but my sense of smell is still very accurate. So most times than not, I can smell an infection coming before the symptoms start to show."

Judy was only more confused by his explanation, "Wait, what does an infection even smell like?" Nick frowned while thinking how to describe the odor of an early infection.

After a couple of seconds of pondering, he settled with, "It's similar to almost rotting flesh and puss? Kind of? It's not that easy to describe really."

Now completely lost, Judy decided to drop the subject entirely, knowing that she wouldn't make heads or tails of what Nick was trying to explain without being able to smell it herself. So she tried to get some small talk going, both to distract herself from the pain, and to keep talking to the fox she didn't see for so long. "So Nick, what have you been up to in my absence? A busy conmammal like you must've had a lot going on everyday, right?" she immediately cringed at what she just said, ' _Mouth meet foot, I'm sure you two will get along nicely_ ', she quickly tried to recover, but a chuckle from Nick stopped in her tracks. Looking at him she saw the small smile on his face, and visibly deflated now that she knew he didn't take it the wrong way.

"Smooth, Carrots. But no, I wasn't really doing anything lately, just lazing around and generally doing as little as possible."

Quirking an eyebrow at the response, the bunny asked, "Why's that?"

An almost imperceptible flash of discomfort passed on the con's face, before being hidden by his usual smug appearance. "That, Fluff, is a topic for another time. Right now we should be thinking on how to get out of here," said Nick before looking around in the pit for any means of escape.

"The Chief already sent someone to fetch a ladder Nick, I'm sure you heard him shout, just like anyone else in the museum for that matter," pointed out Judy, slightly put off from the swift change of subject.

"I sure did, but personally, I'm getting tired of waiting and you still need someone to check that leg," rebutted the fox.

She had to admit he had a point there. They had been waiting for almost an hour now, and it didn't seem like they would get out of there anytime soon. Still, there were no stairs coming down into the pit that she could see, nor any ladder so she had to wonder, "Alright, and how do you propose to get out of here?"

Still looking around in the pit, Nick noticed a thick bundle of cords snaking down the wall of the pit on their far left. It was painted to seemingly mimetize with the background, and connected all the spotlights placed around. A smirk appeared on his face, ' _I knew all the climbing I did with those stupidly heavy popsicles on my back would pay off someday._ '

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Judy was hanging from Nick's back while the fox was climbing the bundle of cables he found. Initially she agreed to let herself be hauled by him after the vulpine assured that it would be feat well within range of his capabilities, but now that they were halfway to the top, Nick was starting to struggle, and Judy was starting to fear another plummet to the ground was in her near future.

"I told you, _hnng_ , I got it. We'll be out, _hnng_ , in no time flat, _hhng,_ " grunting with every pull upwards, Nick was trying his head around the considerable struggle that he was enduring, ' _How can someone so small weigh_ so much _?_ ' He wasn't one to give up easily however, especially if he thought his pride would take a hit for it. They were three quarters of the way up now, a mere four feet between them and freedom, so he mustered all of his remaining strength for a last bout of climbing.

Judy felt Nick jolt upwards, and had to cling herself tighter around him not to fall to the floor underneath. Her body now flush to his, she felt every muscle in Nick's back ripple and tense, before relaxing and tensing again shortly after. Her leg wrapped around his stomach felt his abs do the same thing with every lurch skyward, and she had to wonder how she never noticed how fit the fox actually was. Her reverie was cut short however, when with a last grunt -almost a growl- Nick finally brought them to the top and slowly lowered himself so that she could dismount from his back. She gingerly put her uninjured leg on the ground first, still keeping one paw on Nick for stability before sliding down all the way. After a couple of pants the fox straightened up once more and helped her standing like he did when confronting Bellwether, a paw behind her back tucking under her armpit to keep her steady. She smiled, "Thank you."

"No problem Fluff, now let's find that doctor, what do you say?" asked Nick, a smile that seemed so much less sarcastic than usual on his muzzle. She nodded and they turned towards the entrance of the museum before spotting the Chief animatedly talking to a bear officer, wildly gesturing to the pit at the same time. Said bear turned his head at their direction and his eyes became the size of saucers, and meekly indicated with his paw towards them.

The Chief briefly glanced their way, only to do a double take, his eyes wide open as well. The pair saw him mouth something along the line of 'what the…' before his expression steeled again and he turned to them fully.

"Hopps, how the hell did you get out of the pit?" Bogo almost shouted while quickly heading to them.

Before Judy had the time to respond, Nick interjected with a very smug smile, "Well Chief, since the ZPD seemed unable to help us, we decided to take the matter in our paws. Again," she swiftly jabbed her elbow on his ribs, glaring at him, but all that accomplished was setting an even more smug smile on his face.

The Chief, on the other hand, was barely containing himself. This insufferable fox was mocking him and his officers a second time. And just like the first time, _he had a point_ , they did leave them in the pit for an hour, and everyone on the scene failed to produce a ladder in that time. While he admitted (if only to himself) that the fox was right, Bogo wasn't about to concede the point to him publicly, deciding instead to get back to work. "Hopps get your boyfriend in check before I do it myself!" he immediately saw her snapping her head up to him and starting to blubber some rebuttal about their relationship, so he stopped her before this conversation could be dragged on even longer, "Whatever you're about to say, I don't care. What I do care about, is what happened here before we arrived to see the Mayor threatening you with a gun. Explain."

Once again, Judy tried to speak, before getting interrupted for the third time. Apparently this was becoming a thing now. "She will explain, but only after a medic has had a look at her injury. She waited an hour to get checked, I'm sure you can wait a couple of minutes for your field report," rebutted Nick, his tone gone from smug to annoyed. He couldn't believe that was the first thing he asked after she got out of the pit. Bogo was already low on his scale of his list of people he respected after the stunt he pulled with Judy's first case, and was descending even lower by the second.

And what do you know? The buffalo in front of him was annoyed as well. _Very_ annoyed. "Do _not_ tell me how to do my job ever again, _fox,_ " advised -or more like threatened- Bogo, clearly over the limit of his patience for Wilde, or anybody else for that matter.

"I will once you learn how to do it yourself," Nick sassed back instantly, his brain preparing the comeback while the chief was still talking. Running his mouth was a vital part of his job after all.

What wasn't part of his job was how to deal with a visibly irate and offended two tonnes cape buffalo with steam coming out his nostrils. While he didn't show it outwardly, Nick was quickly starting to regret his last remark, trying desperately to come up with a way to save his hide.

Luck seemed to be on his side that day, since Judy spoke before the Chief could unleash on him. She had reached the boiling point too, and decided that it was about time for her voice to be heard as well. "Enough! Both of you. I _will_ give you a rundown of everything that's happened Chief, but not my official report. That will wait until _after_ I get to see a doctor," both males wanted to say something about the conditions set by Judy, but the glare she sent to the pair when they respectively tried to open their mouths had them reconsider any response that wasn't a 'yes'.

Finally both party agreed, and she was able to get the Chief up to speed. Through her recounting of the events of the day Bogo had a variety of emotions displaying on his face, ranging from disbelief to astonishment down to awe. It was an incredible tale, and if he didn't already know what this little bunny was able to accomplish, he would've doubted most of it was more than fabrication. But this was Judy Hopps, and he learned not to underestimate her anymore. After her retelling was finished Bogo sighed, mentally going through everything once more, "I'm gonna need both the recorder and the pellet."

"Of course, Sir," said Judy, before producing her carrot pen, and giving it to the cape buffalo. A beat passed and Bogo still had his hoof open towards her, waiting for the pellet. The pellet that Nick had. Which he still had to hand over. Without breaking eye contact with the Chief, Judy nudged Nick, prompting him to give the serum to him.

During the whole affair Nick had been sagely quiet, not wanting to test his fate with both the buffalo and the bunny. Quiet but observant, and that's why he noticed Judy rapidly losing her pep during her speech. He ears were less upright, her eyes wavering and she was clutching onto him more and more by the minute, exhaustion clearly written on her face. It was understandable after all they've been through, and being honest, he was feeling quite tired too. Even if he didn't show it, his ribs were aching from the headbutt the ram that threw them in the pit gave him, and he was fairly sure he still had some stuffing in his mouth from the fake deer Judy tossed in his face during their act to fool Bellwether. But in that moment he was too focused on her well being to care about his own. She demonstrated her trust in him in that pit today, not only letting him chase after her while pretending to be savage, but also letting him put his teeth around her neck. He took extreme care not to break skin with them of course, but it was still very faithful of her, and he decided he would repay that trust in any and all way possible.

That was why he failed to realise the two mammals were still waiting for him to hand over the Night Howler's serum he had in his pocket. The nudge Judy gave him however brought him back to reality, and with a sheepish green gave the small pellet to Bogo, who accepted it with a grunt.

"Very well. I believe that with the serum in hand, the doctors at Zootopia General will be able to concoct an antidote. Excellent work Officer Hopps," at those last words Judy's eyes grew the size of a saucer.

"S-Sir, I resigned three months ago, I'm not an officer anymore…"

"Nonsense, you spent the last three months undercover in BunnyBurrow collecting evidence and investigating the savage attacks. Next time however, I advise you don't leave your badge behind," as he said this, Bogo put a hoof in his trousers pocket, producing a small badge from it and handing it to the dumbstruck bunny that was staring at him like he had suddenly grown an extra head.

Carefully taking the shield with her free hand, Judy was trying to discern if this was really happening, or if the blood loss from her leg was playing tricks with her mind, "Sir, I… I…"

With a rare smile on his face, Chief Bogo threw her a lifeline, "Welcome back, Hopps."

Now on the verge of tears, Judy stood at attention on her good leg, sharply saluting her superior, "Thank you Sir!"

For a second more the buffalo regarded his smallest officer with fondness, before reverting to his normal stoic demeanor, "Now go get that leg checked Hopps, and don't show your face at the Precinct before Monday, am I clear?"

"Yessir!" beamed the bunny, overwhelmed with happiness. She couldn't believe what just happened and was currently on cloud nine. She barely registered Nick directing her to the front entrance of the Natural History Museum, heading for the medical bus that Bogo called in. She came back to reality once in front of it, and a caracal EMT quickly helped her in the vehicle and on a stretcher. "I've already been told about your leg wound," started the caracal whose nametag read 'Nathan Clawberg', "Is there any other injury I need to be aware of?"

"No just the one on my leg," answered Judy, the tiredness now back after the short burst of happiness faded. She needed get some rest soon, and she was anxiously waiting to do just so. Fate however had other plans.

After removing the improvised tourniquet and placing it on the side of the stretcher, Nathan carefully examined the wound on her shin, poking and prodding here and there, occasionally sending jolts of pain up the limb and making Judy wince hard. Nick was quickly on her side and offered his paw for comfort, which she eagerly took. With a hum and a nod, Nathan returned his attention to the bunny and gave his prognosis, "Okay. Good news is: The wound isn't that deep, so any long lasting muscular damage is out of the picture. Bad news is: You're gonna need stitches, and we don't have the equipment in the bus to apply them so we're gonna have to bring you to the closest hospital, which is Savannah Central Hospital. I'm gonna bandage your leg for now, until we're there."

To say that didn't please Judy would be an understatement, she had no other choice however, so she acquiesced. She'll have to wait a little more to get that rest it would seem, but at least she had Nick at her side to keep her company and help her through this too. Speaking of which, "Would it be alright if he came with me?" she asked the caracal nodding her head towards the fox, hoping that EMT would consent.

"I don't see why not, unless he doesn't want to," shrugged Nathan, not really bothered by Nick's presence.

With pleading eyes, she turned to Nick, asking without speaking for him to remain. Nick smiled, really smiled, with no hints of smugness or slyness, and spoke for the first time in what was probably the longest time he remained silent since she knew him, "I'm not going anywhere Fluff, don't worry," this filled her with happiness once more, and she squeezed his paw thanking him.

After five more minutes Nathan finished cleaning and bandaging her leg, and he excused himself from the pair, moving towards the front seats to let the driver know the destination and that they were ready to go. Seconds later the bus engine came to life, and they quickly headed to Savannah Central Hospital. Throughout the entire the surprisingly short journey, Nick never let go of Judy's paw.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap for Chapter 1! What did you guys think? Should I go into hiding and never show my face around here ever again? Should I continue? Let me now! Comments and reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2 - 10CC of Fluff, Stat!

**A/N: Would you look at that? A new chapter, and it's significantly sooner than I promised it would be! Is this some sort of miracle? Because if it is it's a rather crappy one...  
Hilarious jokes aside, I kind of cheated with this chapter, since I had it ready to go even before I posted chapter 1. So don't get used to this. Enjoy!**

Three hours.

That's how long has passed since Nick was told to wait for Judy in the waiting lounge. They arrived to Savannah Central Hospital in less than 15 minutes thanks both the relatively empty streets and the driver of the bus, which drove at incredible speeds without sending the fox and the bunny in the back flying at every curve. Once they come up to the entrance of the hospital a zebra doctor and a gazelle nurse were already been waiting for them, having been called by Nathan on the way there and had promptly put Judy on a wheelchair and started pushing her towards the ER, not needing to prep an entire operating room for only a couple of sutures. Nick was on their tail but once the group reached the doors to the ER, the nurse stopped him and asked him to wait for a nurse to fetch him after Judy got her stitches.

So that's what he did. For _three hours._ At first he was happy for a little time alone with his thoughts because he needed to get his mind in order. Thinking back to everything that happened today, there were a number of things Nick Wilde would've normally never done, like fight two rams on a speeding train, only to ultimately crash said train and barely be able to jump from it before it exploded, or pretend to go savage in order to fool the mayor and subsequently get a recorded confession of her crimes and nail her as the leader of the operation behind the savage attacks.

What shocked him the most however, was how easy it was to forgive Judy. He had been at the receiving end of prejudice his whole life, but with Judy it was different. He thought she genuinely believed in him and that's why after the bigoted things she said during the press conference he was hurt significantly more than normal. After he lashed out at her Nick spent a couple of days mulling over his hurt feelings, but eventually got over it. He was used to it, all the hate and the prejudice usually bounced off the walls he constructed himself over the years, leaving him perfectly capable to just forget the mammal that insulted him and move on with is life, and that's exactly what he did. He moved on.

Or so he thought. Another thing that was different with Judy was that she came back. No other mammal ever did that, not for him at least. He fought not to fall into the same trap again the second he saw her, the temptation to just give in and follow her strong, and put up a show of indifference, walking away from her. Then she started apologising, pouring her heart for him, and begging for forgiveness. Not demanding it, _begging_ for it. His own heart all but broke at the spectacle and he forgave her without another thought. That's when he realised the he didn't move on, nor did he forget about her. Nick still cared about Judy, now more than ever, and that was not at all normal for him. It scared him how attached to her he felt, and how many dangerous situation he faced head first with her at his side.

His self introspection lasted only an hour however, before boredom and exhaustion caught up with his mind, forcing him to put the train of thought in a box at the back of his brain for later examination. His attention now in the present, Nick did a quick sweep with his eyes around the waiting lounge taking in all the details of the room and the mammal in it that he could. The room was rather large, with accommodations for all sizes of mammal lined up at the walls and in the center of the space. Three doors adorned the walls of the waiting lounge, the entrance from which he came in, the doorway to the ER, and an emergency exit that lead directly outside. All pretty standard for a hospital, if not for the tiles they used. ' _Whose idea was it to use purple?_ '

Nick was the only one in the room, which was both a blessing and a curse, because while he would not be bothered by anyone, he couldn't observe the mammals around him trying to gauge what they were doing or why they were in the same room as him, which was one of his favourite pastimes when there was nothing else to do. With a bleary sigh he slumped back on his chair resigned to wait in silence with nothing to do, cursing himself for having left his cellphone at home today. Every once and again a nurse would come out of the ER, and he would ask if they knew anything of Judy, but never getting lucky.

And now finally after three of the longest hours of his life, a gazelle nurse poked his head out of the door dividing the Emergency Room from the lounge.

"Mister Wilde?" the nursed called, looking around the room.

"That's me!" Nick promptly responded, jumping out the chair and approaching the gazelle, who seemed surprised of seeing him, as if he didn't just call him.

"Uhh, are you here for Ms. Hopps?" the gazelle was still looking him up and down, apparently not convinced that the fox was the mammal he was looking for.

"Sure am!" clarified Nick, smirk and half lidded eyes firmly in place, hiding the annoyance he was feeling. ' _What, do you think I would just answer a random name? What would be the purpose?_ '

With one last look of suspicion, the nurse finally relented, and gestured him inside, "This way then, Miss Hopps is almost ready to go, and has asked of you," with a nod, Nick followed the bull through various corridors and wards, which luckily lacked the purple tiles of the waiting lounge, until they came to a stop in front of a door with the number "626" painted on it. "This is Ms. Hopps' room, the doctor will come shortly with her prescription and the release papers. Wait here until then," without a second glance, the nurse simply turned around and walked away. Nick simply shook his head and turned to the door, knocking to the theme of "The Furminator".

"Yes?"

"Pizza delivery for one Officer Toot Toot!"

"Oh shut up and get in here you dumb fox," with both of them now chuckling, Nick reached up to the handle, pushed the door open and entered the room. It was exactly what Nick expected it to be. White, sterile, and not welcoming. A big window on the right wall was providing natural light for the room, two chairs were on either side of the wolf sized bed that was in the middle of the room, and nothing else. Again not very welcoming, but the todd supposed it was not really the purpose of a hospital to be welcoming. Judy was seated on said bed, legs dangling off the side and a smile on her face. Gone were her clothes, replaced by a hospital gown, and a noticeable gauze dressing on her right shin.

"Glad to see you're still with us Fluff. With all the time they kept you in here, I thought you were a goner!"

"Har har. They just wanted to do a full check-up and make sure I was fine."

"And are you?" Nick tried. He really _really_ tried not to make the question sound as concerned and borderline desperate as it did, but his exhaustion mixed with the genuine worry he felt for the rabbit meant that his ability to act as if nothing got to him was at an all time low.

Judy noticed the abrupt change in his tone. He did that a lot today, his usual crass and abrasive personality, laden with sarcasm and mockery had been scarcely present, at least towards her, replaced by care and concern, like now. It made her hope that their friendship was really mended as easily as that, with a simple heart to heart and a genuine apology. After the gigantic faux pas at the press conference, and the way she ran from the city afterwards she really wouldn't have blamed Nick if he just outright rejected her apology. Judy shook her head both to get rid of the thoughts forming in her mind and for the tone in the conmammal voice.

"I'm fine Nick. The only thing wrong with me right now is my leg, and even that is gonna heal soon, as long as I don't do something stupid like running a marathon while recovering," she explained with a smile.

"Then clearly they didn't run a psychological test while they were at it. Only a crazy mammal would hijack a train full of poison and explosive only to then face a psychotic murderer head on," after releasing a breath of relief, Nick went immediately back to what he did best; Covering his emotions with comedy.

"Says the one that followed said mammal all around town and helped her do everything she did," the rebuttal was immediate, as if Judy was expecting a sarcastic jab to come her way. Nick was positively impressed by her quick reaction, and conceded the point after quickly searching for a counter and coming up short.

"Touchè," the smug smile on the cop's face told Nick that she was taking this win _very_ seriously. He made a mental note to take her down a peg as soon as he could. His ego wouldn't have it otherwise.

"I'm sorry," Nick was so engrossed in thinking of every possible way to show the little bunny _he_ was still the slyest of the two that he almost missed the small apology. His eyes snapped up to look at Judy and found her no longer smiling, instead she was looking at the ground, a chastened look on her minute muzzle and her ears draping her shoulders and back.

"Excuse me?" Nick must have clearly missed a part of their conversation, since there was nothing she would have to apologise for otherwise. When she directed the same penitent look his way he was all the more confused.

"I said I'm sorry, for making you run around town, making you follow me into a criminal hideout, barely survive a train crash only to immediately almost get killed by an insane ewe. None of that would have happened if it wasn't for me," Judy looked to the ground again, too ashamed to look at Nick in the eyes. She almost got him killed two times while working on the Missing Mammals case, only to do the same as soon as she met him again. ' _How can I consider myself his friend if every time we're together he risks his life?_ '

A sigh was heard, and the bunny turned her head towards Nick again and saw him approach the bed she was sitting on. With a jump and a half rotation mid-air the todd was seated at her side, a smirk firmly planted on his muzzle.

"First off Carrots; You couldn't _make_ me do anything even if you tried. I learned from my mistakes, and you won't be blackmailing me any time soon I assure you," a wink and a nudge from the fox was all it took for the first signs of happiness to show on Judy's face again. "Second; If it wasn't for you, all predators out there would still be a target for Bellwether and her degenerate plan," a smile accompanied Nick's words. A _genuine_ smile, not his usual smug smirk. Something rare for the vulpine, but he didn't pay any mind to it. He thought the moment deserved a little honesty, and for once he could show some.

Putting an arm around Judy's shoulder and giving her a half hug, Nick decided to cheer the cop a little, "So chin up rabbit, you just saved the city! I would expect you to literally bounce off the walls right now, not mope about some non-issues!"

Judy felt immense relief in hearing those words. Knowing he wasn't mad at her for the whole ordeal had eased her worry a lot, and the physical contact that bunnies all over the world craved was a definitely welcome addition. Still there was a point in his speech she didn't like, and decided to voice her mind. "I didn't save the city Nick, _we_ did. I couldn't have done it without your help."

Nick shrugged, "Debatable, but not the point. What I'm trying to say is that you have nothing to be sorry about, got it?"

Seeing that furthering her protests would lead her to absolutely nothing, Judy simply relaxed in the embrace and rested her head on Nick's chest sighing, "Got it."

They both stayed in the moment for a while, simply enjoying the peace after the day's adventure and full blown action fitting for a Jack Savage movie. Both at ease with each other and finally relaxing. Until the door opened and the doctor waltzed in without a care in the world.

"Miss Hopps I got yo- Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt," the middle-aged beaver stood few feets from the door and was still going through the papers in his paws when entering, not noticing the occupants on the bed. When he glanced up from the documents he finally saw both fox and rabbit snuggling into each other's arms, and a small smirk crawled on his lips.

Said fox and rabbit were both startled by the doctor's sudden appearance, and after he talked were both acutely aware of what their current position would seem like to a third party. Judy tensed up and panicked, going through a million refusal at once in her mind. Nick _teleported_ away from the bed he was moving so fast. In less than a blink of the eye he went from embracing Judy to standing awkwardly at the end of the bed. When he recounted the story years after, the beaver would swear he saw the after image of the fox still on the bed for a split second.

Nick and Judy started rambling about how "It isn't how it looks like" at the same time, talking over the other and trying to their hardest to come up with excuses for their behaviour. Which was extremely amusing for the doctor, who felt like he was in some kind of cheesy romcom where the lead actors didn't know they were a couple yet.

After a full 30 seconds of half-assed excuses and tripping on their own paws, the beaver decided to put an end to it, and save them from digging their own grave any further, "Okay, okay, I get it. Whatever you guys were doing is none of my business, don't worry. I'm just here to give you your release papers and prescription Miss Hopps, after this you're free to go."

Judy was positive now that death from embarrassment was entirely possible. She was a hair breadth away from it, her ears practically glowing from their redness and her cheeks so hot you could cook an egg on them. Nick wasn't faring any better, but his fur was doing a much better job at hiding his blush. "Thank you Doctor, I'll take those and leave then!" the sentence was followed by a very awkward chuckle and a shaky grin.

Nick internally facepawed, ' _Very smooth Carrots._ '

' _Not like you're doing any better Wilde_ ' his mind offered immediately.

' _Shut it!_ '

"Yes, but first let me run you through what you'll need to do in the next couple of days to look after that leg of yours," the doctor, bless his soul, was not letting the mortifying experience any longer, and Judy couldn't be more thankful for it. "You'll need to take one of these in the morning and one in the evening for three days," he said as he produced a little orange bottle from his coat, to which Judy immediately frowned. She wasn't a fan of pills of any kind. The beaver noticed and immediately explained, "Don't worry, it's nothing too heavy, just a mild painkiller to help with, well, the pain," Judy nodded, a little relieved that she wouldn't be drugged out of her mind while recovering.

"You'll need to change the dressing two times a day as well, and put as little weight on the leg as possible. Any kind of physical activity that would require heavy use of your legs is _prohibited_ for two weeks or more, depending on how fast your injury heals. Don't worry, I already notified Chief Bogo, and he said to take all the time you need to heal back to 100%. Also you'll need to check back to me after you've gone through the medication so that I can see how the cicatrization is coming along. So if you live more than half a mile away from the hospital, I suggest taking a cab rather than public transit."

Judy's ears immediately stood to attention, her face morphing to something akin to discomfort. "Ahh, _aaactuallyyy_ I kind of don't have a house in the city anymore. I moved back with my parents in BunnyBurrow a couple of months ago…," she was still very ashamed of the fact that she ran away from her problems. It was _not_ how Judy Hopps dealt with what life threw her way, she met those hardship head-on and overcame any difficulties! This time instead she simply gave up after seeing how her actions nearly threw the city into a frenzy, the guilt eating her up too powerful to ignore.

"Oh. Well I could send your file to BunnyBurrow's hospital, but the procedure would take a week at least, and we really can't afford to let your injury unchecked for that long. Isn't there a way for you to remain within the city limits?" the beaver frowned when he learned this new development. It could hinder her recovery, and if possible he would like to avoid leaving her leg uncared for.

Nick was actively listening to the entire conversation and was a little shocked to learn that Judy had outright left the city for the months they were apart. He had of course heard about her resignation, it was all over the news, but didn't think she would go as far as going back to her parents. ' _She must have took it way harder than I thought…_ '

"I… I guess I could ask my parents to send me some money and book a room in an hotel nearby…," Judy was trying to remember how much money she had with her when she all but rushed to the city that morning. She knew it wasn't much, but it should cover at least one night until her parents could send her some more. Yeah that sounded reasonable to her.

Too bad Nick had other plans.

"That's nonsense Carrots, you can crash at my place for a while until you find another place here," it sounded like the most logical thing to Nick. Judy needed a place to stay, and he had more than enough room in his apartment to house a bunny for a while. Judging by the bewildered expression on Judy's face, she didn't agree.

"I can't just impose on you like that Nick! First I drag you across the city to help me, then I make you lodge me at your home!"

"Again Fluff, we already established that you can _not_ make me do anything. We're friends, and that's what friends do; Help each other out when there's need to," countered Nick with a serious expression. He was done with all the 'make you' talk. "Besides, I meant it when I said that I wasn't leaving you behind. You're stuck with me Carrots, whether you like it or not," this was said with another smile from the conmammal. He was behaving way out of character today, and he noticed, but was too exhausted right then to really think about it. So he just chalked it off as the result of the emotional roller coaster that he went through.

To say Judy was touched by the comment would be an understatement. She didn't expect Nick to forgive her in the first place, and now here he was, being the best friend she could ask for right when she needed him. She felt the stinging of rising tears in her eyes, and tried her best not to burst crying again, else another comment about rabbits being over emotional would be sent her way. "Oh Nick."

"It's settled then! Good. Now since Miss Hopps is gonna stay in your care, let me show you how to change the dressing on her leg, so that you can assist her would she need it," the doctor didn't waste any time, and immediately went back to business. His shift was almost over, and he very much didn't intend to arrive late at home another time. His wife would kill him for sure this time, and he liked living. Making quick work of the bandages already on Judy's leg, he showed Nick how to properly reapply them, and how not to upset the stitches while doing so.

Right after the beaver finished with his explanation, the door to the room opened again, and in walked a nurse with a blue bag in her hands.

"Miss Hopps, I got your belongings and clothes for you," the soft-spoken cougar said. Her shy tone of voice, paired with her small stature for her species made her look far less threatening than normal, which was probably why they hired in the first place, thought Nick cynically.

Judy nodded and thanked the nurse, before retrieving the bag and looking through its contents. Her clothes were there, like the cougar said, and her phone and wallet were present too. She took her phone out first, and blanched at the notifications displayed on it. 47 missed calls and 113 messages. All from her parents. They must've got wind of what happened in the city, and were probably freaking out right now. Before she could call them or respond to the messages however, the phone sang his last song and died right in her paw.

Judy inwardly cursed, she was not looking forward to the conversation she'll have with her mother and father when she was finally able to contact them. Not at all. She could do nothing about it right now however so she simply let the device fall from her paw to the mattress and took her clothes out of the bag.

"If there isn't anything else you need to tell me doc, I'd like to change and leave," she said with a little resignation in her voice.

"No I've covered everything I needed to, you're free to go Miss Hopps. I'll see you again in three days," with that the doctor nodded and left the room together with the nurse, leaving Nick and Judy alone once again.

"I'll wait for you outside Carrots," Nick made to the door, but stopped when Judy called after him.

"Actually Nick, I kind of need a paw with this. I can't really stand, and I need a paw with my pants," she sheeply admitted, her ears tinting red for the umpteenth time that day.

"Uh, I-I can fetch you a nurse if you want," proposed Nick, not really sure of what he was supposed to do.

"I just want to get out of here as soon as possible, I really don't like hospitals. Could you please help me? I promise it will be quick! Please?"

"Oh, uh, s-sure, no problem. Just tell me what to do?" again, Nick wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do. Was he expected to put her pants on? Surely that wasn't the case.

"Just help me stand and keep me from falling while I put them on."

With a nod, Nick made for the bed and stood in front of Judy with his paws outstretched towards her. Judy blushed again and looked away for a second.

"Can you turn around for a second while I put my shirt on? I don't have anything under this thing," Judy said with much embarrassment in her voice, gesturing towards her torso.

Nick eyes widened exponentially and quickly turned his back on her. He heard the sound of acrylic against fur when she removed the hospital gown and couldn't help the slight blush that creeped up his ears at the thought of her naked form just behind him. ' _What the hell is WRONG with me? She's your friend Wilde, stop thinking what you're thinking right_ now'.

After a couple of seconds, Judy called out to him again. "You can turn again now."

He did so, and was welcomed with the sight of Judy sitting on the bed with her pink checkered shirt and her panties, clearly uncomfortable in her state of undress. His eyes fell immediately to her naked legs and ran all the way to her crotch, where carrot patterned panties were. His mind was back to thinking thing that would make all the respectable mammals of Zootopia blush. ' _STOP IT!_ '

"Nick?" Judy called, after he just stood there, his ears splayed on his head and eyes transfixed.

The fox shook his head and outstretched his paws again, ready to actually help her, and not just stand there being a creep.

Judy gingerly slid down from the bed putting her good leg down first, but as soon as she tried to put some weight on her other leg a bolt of pain shot through it and she tripped forward. If Nick wasn't there to catch her, she would've certainly met the floor face first.

"Sorry…"

"Don't worry Carrots, I got you," Nick had to gather all of his acting skills not to sound as bothered as he really was. The last thing they needed was him making a big deal out of this admittedly awkward situation. He was just helping a friend in need, and that was all there was to it.

With unsteady paws Judy reached down to the floor where she dropped her pants before getting out of bed, bending forward while keeping a firm grasp of Nick's forearm. That's when Nick figured out that the universe was out to get him.

Once again Nick tried. He really _really_ tried not to look. But her tail and butt were on display for him like a lobster on a silver plate. Tantalizing and so _fluffy_ looking, it was taking all of his willpower not to just reach and comb his fingers through that tuft of cotton-like gift from the heavens.

Luckily whatever merciless God was torturing him decided to take pity on him, and Judy swiftly pulled her pants up, and fastened them around her waist.

They both looked at each other at the same time, and each saw the clear discomfort this situation left them in. Judy's ears and eyes fell to the ground, while Nick rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled lightly.

"I knew that _Carrots_ was the right nickname for you," the joke was meant to relieve some of the stress from the bunny's features, but all it managed to accomplish was an even fiercer blush and a swift punch to the arm of the fox.

"Nick!"

Another punch.

"Don't!"

Punch.

"Joke!"

Punch. Punch. Punch.

"About! My! Underwear!"

Nick was now fiercely rubbing his left arm, positive that he would have the mother of all bruises in the morning. "Alright, alright! Gee, Carrots, I didn't know it was such a big deal! I can show you mine if it'll make you feel better?" the smirk on his face was mischievous, he was testing how much he could tease her before she would knock him out.

" _HOW WOULD THAT MAKE ME FEEL BETTER?!_ " Judy squeaked, half way between furious and mortified. She should've known that he would joke about it, but hindsight is 20/20, and right now she was to bothered to think of it as just banter.

"Fine, but for your information, there's a lot of mammals out there that would _pay_ to get the same offer I gave to you," and back to the default smugness. Old Nick was back in town it would seem, and Judy wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. At least he finally dropped the subject right after that last remark, "C'mon let's get out of here," said the fox, offering his arm like in the Natural History Museum, and turning them towards the door.

They navigated the corridors of the hospital toward the reception, where Judy turned in her papers and signed her release. The pair turned towards the entrance and saw a sea of journalists and paparazzi waiting for them. Judy sighed and mentally prepared for the onslaught of questions and cameras directly to her face. She had hoped no one would figure out where she was recovered, but was a fool for doing so.

Just as she started to go towards the exit, Nick turned them around and directed them to the E.R. Judy was obviously confused by this, and asked, "Nick, what are you doing?"

"I am way too tired to go through the myriad of questions and flashes waiting for you out that door, and I'm sure that you are too. Sooooo, we're taking a detour," said the todd, crossing the doors to the waiting lounge he spent most of his afternoon in, and turning towards the emergency exit. He carefully opened it, wary of the possibility of the door being connected to an alarm. Once it was open enough for both of them to slip through, they did so and emerged on a side alley on the east side of the building.

Nick and Judy sneaked towards the road, careful as to not alert the press of their presence, and swiftly crossed the roads and started towards Downtown Savannah. Judy was positively impressed by Nick's craftiness, and smiled to him, "Sly Fox."

The "compliment" was met with a shrug and a grin, "Dumb Journalists. If they really wanted to catch you, they should've covered all the exists," Judy snorted and looked back towards the road. It was late in the afternoon, and the streets were bustling with mammals returning to their homes after work, or just enjoying the now cooler temperatures since the sun was setting. The fading orange light of the sun was reflecting upon the many skyscrapers that adorned Savannah Central, and it made the surrounding glow, making the district look like it came out of a fairy tale. She was so engrossed in her reverie that she almost didn't notice Nick coming to a halt, and raising his free paw in the air.

"What are you doing?"

"Hailing a cab, Carrots. More than half a mile, remember?"

"I'm fine Nick, there's no need for that, we can just walk, or take the subway," protested the rabbit. She didn't want to spend money for a cab when there was no need to. She learned pretty soon that cabs in the city were almost a luxury with how much the fare usually cost.

"No can do, Carrots, doctor's orders," as soon as he said that, a medium sized taxi stopped near the curb they were standing on, and he opened the door for her. "After you, Officer Hopps."

Judy sighed and awkwardly hopped onto the seat, her injured legs impairing her dexterity. Nick followed immediately after, and the wolf driving the cab asked, "Where to?"

Nick smirked to Judy and answered, "1955 Cypress Grove Lane, good Sir!"

 **A/N: I'm not gonna lie, I had some difficulties with this chapter. I tried to keep both Nick and Judy true to the movie, but it feels like both of them are somewhat out of character in this. At the end of it all, I think I managed, but I'm not 100% sure, so sorry in advance. Tell me what you think! As always, criticism and reviews are greatly appreciated! I should also mention that the third chapter is already in the works, but is far from finished, so I can't guarantee it will be out in a week's time.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Home Sweet Home

**A/N: HUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGEEEEEE thanks to EEsDoNotItNow for editing and proofreading this chapter. She caught some errors that not even a 5 years old child would've made. She's the reason this chapter is even barely readable.**

"Carrots, wake up," Nick gently shook Judy's shoulder, attempting to rouse the rabbit from her slumber. Not more than a minute after they got into the taxi she had fallen asleep, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up with her completely. Nick smiled when he glanced her way and saw her slumped over the seat, her ears draping over her eyes and softly snoring. ' _And she wanted to walk the whole way. Stubborn Bunny._ ' Nick didn't live far from Savannah Central Hospital, no more than five miles. But the words from the beaver doctor, coupled with the obvious tiredness oozing from the rabbit had convinced the conmammal that a taxi would be the best option. Unsurprisingly, he was correct.

Judy only grunted and turned slightly away from Nick after the call, clearly not wanting to wake up yet, but that wasn't an option right now. The wolf driver was already eyeing them, knowing that the faster the couple got off, the faster he would be on the streets again, looking for his next fare. Nick tried again, this time a little more firmly, "Wake up Fluff, we have to go," again the only response he got was a grunt and a shove, and Nick frowned. Time for the big guns.

"Help! A criminal just snatched my purse!" said Nick with an exaggerated high pitch. This time the reaction was immediate.

Ears snapping to attention and eyes wide, Judy started looking around the cab, "Where? Where are they?" when her surrounding finally clicked with her, a look of utter confusion dawned on her face, "What...?"

"Good morning sunshine. We're here, c'mon," said Nick, gently prodding her towards the door. With the corner of his eye, he catched the driver trying to contain a laugh at the whole scene, and failing miserably. His own smirk showed on his muzzle, he had to admit it was kind of comical.

Finally Judy's mind came back online, and she remembered where she was, and why she was there. Nick had offered for her to stay at his place until she got another apartment, and it seemed they had arrived at his condo. She looked up at him a little sheeply, "I fell asleep, didn't I?"

"Yup! Now come on, this kind mammal has waited enough," said Nick with a nod towards the front of the car. Judy turned her eyes towards the rear view mirror and offered a small smile to the wolf too. He offered one back, coupled with a wink. He clearly wasn't all that bothered by the ordeal. Before she could do anything more, a flash of red, green and brown zipped before her eyes, and she heard the click of the door to her left. Nick had leaped over her, and in the same time opened the door of the cab, landing on his fore paws only to stand back up again in a single fluid motion. Once he was upright again, he turned towards Judy and offered his paw to her again. Judy was baffled for a second, but quickly recovered and accepted the proffered paw.

"Show off!" said Judy with mock reprimand in her voice, a smile tugging at the corner of her short muzzle.

His free paw going to his chest, and his face morphing to display pure hurt, Nick quipped back, "Madam, you wound me!" and turned his head away from her. The charade lasted a whole two seconds, before a smirk creeped on his muzzle, and he slightly cracked open one eye to gauge her reaction.

Judy fought really hard not to let the mirth she was feeling show, but it was a losing battle, and as soon as Nick's own mask fell, a fit of giggles escaped her without permission. Her laugh was infectious, and the fox soon found himself joining her with a chuckle of his own.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I still need my fare," said the wolf, his head craned out of the window, looking at the pair.

Judy's ears perked up again, and she started to search for her wallet in her pockets. Nick beat her to it however, and produced his own, a faux-leather brown folding style wallet that had seen better days judging by its wear. Taking a fifty bill out of it, he offered it to the wolf, "Here you go, plus a little bit for your trouble."

The driver's eyes widened at the sight of the bill, and looked questioningly at the fox, "You sure? That's one hell of a tip!" Nick waved his concerns away and offered the note once more. Seeing no other reason to refuse, the driver gladly accepted the fifty dollars, and bid them goodbye.

"Nick! I could've covered that!" while she appreciated the gesture, Judy didn't want Nick to think he'd have to pay like every male "should". She was an independent bunny and she could pay for herself.

"Next time be faster on the draw then," quipped Nick with a wink. "Now come, there's one last obstacle to overcome before we can finally rest. _Stairs_ ," once again the fox put his arm around Judy and helped her forward.

The building where Nick lived was similar to the "Grand Pangolin Arms" in many ways. An old green ten-story building that had long passed its prime, and was in dire need of a new coat of paint. The medium-sized red double doors that served as the entrance offered no resistance against Nick's paw and slid open with a slight creak. Judy looked quizzically at the vulpine who simply shrugged, "The lock has been busted for a couple of years now," that did not reassure the rabbit about the security of the place. Quite the contrary in fact.

The interior of the apartment building was a complete contrast with the outside. Clearly new wallpaper hugged the wall, a white leaf pattern on a dark green background. The wooden floor was very well looked after too, and was almost reflective from the polish it received. A faint smell of lemon mixed with pine permeated the air. It was a stark contrast from where she used to live, and Judy was asking herself how did she not find this place when she was looking for a home in the city herself.

Nick suddenly stopped in his tracks, and Judy was pulled to reality once more. Right in the middle of the lobby stood and elderly lady squirrel, thin stripes of white coursed through the brown fur of her muzzle and tail, a pair of round glasses adorning her nose. Her clothes screamed "grandma", a light green shawl draped on her sagging shoulders, a pink blouse and dark purple trousers. What struck Judy the most however, was not her fashion sense, but the absolute disdain with which she was staring at Nick, and how he was returning the glare tenfold.

"Tch, you're still here? I hoped you finally dropped dead somewhere in a ditch, since I didn't see you around for a couple of days," said the squirrel, contempt dripping from every word. Judy was dumbfounded, how could such a sweet looking lady spit so much venom?

"If anyone should exit stage left, it's you. You're long overdue old hag," Nick fired back, a response always ready on his tongue.

"Insolent _pelt_ , back in my days pests like you wouldn't last a day!"

"Back in your days the bubonic plague was rampant, and they burned witches like you on the stake too."

The old lady took two steps forward and was now directly in front of Nick, standing proud even though she was only 12 inches from the ground, "How dare you, you filthy rug!"

"Decrepit rat!"

"Thief!"

"Mummy!"

Both fox and squirrel were staring each other directly in the eyes with outrage and anger written all over their faces, and Judy was ready to get in the middle of them to prevent a possible murder scene. Before she could jump into action, a snort from her left caught her attention and she turned towards the old lady, her face contorted in a grimace, trying to contain her laughter. Another snort, this time from the right and she turned to see Nick was in the same situation.

All of a sudden, both parties erupted in a raucous laughter that echoed through the walls of the lobby. If Judy was dumbfounded before, now she was completely lost.

"Oh goodness, you didn't pull any punches today Nicholas!" said the lady, still chuckling.

"You're one to talk! The only thing you were missing was a jab at my mother's integrity!" rebutted Nick, now chuckling as well.

Judy tried to come up with a cohesive sentence, but all that came out of her mouth was, "What?"

The elderly squirrel finally seemed to notice her, and her eyes widened considerably, "Oh sweet Lord, I hope we didn't traumatize you with our banter."

"Sorry Carrots, I forgot to introduce you. This is Mrs. Princeton, she lives on the floor above mine, and has the foulest mouth I ever seen on an old lady," explained Nick before turning to the squirrel , "Mrs. Princeton meet Judy Hopps, she's a friend and needs a place to crash for a couple of days,"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Betty? It's a pleasure to meet you- Wait, you're _Judy Hopps_?!" asked Betty her face morphing into a look of surprise. Judy was surprised as well, she hadn't expected such a strong reaction almost three months after her media exposure.

"Y-Yes?" said Judy, a little apprehensive. She still wasn't sure if this lady was friendly or not, so she treaded carefully.

"Sweet Lord! You're a hero! Your story is on every news report on the T.V.! I thought you were in the hospital, they said you got injured during the confrontation with that despicable ewe," explained Betty, a little venom returning in her voice when addressing Bellwether.

' _Oh. That explains a lot…_ ' thought Judy. The various news stations were already talking about the case, and that's probably how her parents got wind of it. It didn't help that the reporters just said she got injured, and didn't explain it wasn't anything major. No wonder they called her so many times, they were probably scared out of their minds right now! She had to call them as soon as possible.

"Thank you, I'd love to stay and chat but we have to go, right Nick?" said Judy with some urgency in her voice, turning towards the fox with wide eyes and gesturing to Betty with her head. Nick arched an eyebrow at that and looked confused for a split second, but went with it almost immediately.

"Yeah, right. A pleasure as always Mrs- _Betty_ ," said Nick nodding his head and starting towards the stairs. Mrs. Princeton looked like she wanted to say something else, but didn't get the chance since the fox just soldiered right past her, dragging Judy with him. Once they were a few paces away from the old squirrel and right before the first step, Nick lowered his voice to a whisper and asked, "What's up, why the rush?"

Judy clinged a little more on Nick's shirt and hopped awkwardly with her good leg one step at a time. She answered in a whisper too, "I have to plug my phone and call my parents as fast as I can! They probably saw the news, heard I got injured and are freaking out right now," another hop, another step.

"Oh," said Nick. Judy was struggling, and the fact that she visibly preoccupied for her parents wasn't helping her none. Nick's apartment was on the fifth floor and at this pace they would take at least twenty minutes to reach it. An idea formed in Nick's mind, "Well then, allow me," said the fox before bending down and picking Judy from the ground, holding her bridal style.

Judy let out a small squeak of surprise when she was lifted in the air, "Nick! What are you doing?"

"I live on the fifth floor Carrots, we're gonna take ages at your pace. Just relax and enjoy the ride," said Nick with a grin and a wink before climbing the stairs two steps at a time.

"This is embarrassing Nick...," said Judy, her ears folded on her back and warmth spreading on her cheeks. The way she was hanging on to the fox, one arm around his neck and one paw on his chest, was way more intimate than she thought acceptable between friends. Especially since they became friends once again no more than ten hours ago. The thought that she was actually somewhat enjoying it was quickly shot, burned and the ashes were thrown in the wind.

"It's only embarrassing if you make it so," said Nick, the grin still not leaving his muzzle. If he was being honest, he was enjoying this a lot. It was like the Mystic Spring Oasis all over again, and he was sure he would never get tired of the flustered state Judy was in. ' _Being this cute should be illegal._ '

"That's not how it works Nick, put me down!" protested Judy. She gasped when Nick jumped the last two steps of the flight of stairs they were climbing, and landed in the hallway of the floor. She had to grip a little harder not to be jostled around and blushed harder when she got a face full of neck fur. This was _definitely_ embarrassing no matter what way you looked at it.

Nick huffed and looked down at the rabbit in his arms, "As you wish Carrots. We're here anyway," he said as he hunched down and let Judy slip gently from his grasp, but still keeping an arm around her. When she was finally on the ground again she looked at her surroundings and took notice of the layout of the floor. There were six doors embedded in the walls, two at each end of the hallway and the remaining four were facing each other at her left and right. The same wallpaper from the lobby still present.

She hated to admit it, but Nick was right. She didn't even realise they were already on the fifth floor and if she had it her way, and climbed up the stairs on her own they would have probably reached only the second floor in the same time, "At least ask before you decide to do something like that," said Judy with a voice far less firm than she intended, ears still flush on her back.

"And miss out on that cute embarrassed face you're making right now? No thank you!" replied Nick. He was clearly very proud of himself right then if the smug aura coming from him was anything to go by.

"Don't call me cute!" the reprimand came with a sharp elbow to the ribs from the rabbit.

"Ooww! Alright, deserved that," rubbing his aching midsection, Nick turned them both to the left side of the hallway and stopped in front of the door at the very end, a small plaque with the number "26" was screwed on it. The fox fished for they keys in his pockets, but when he found them and went to unlock the door he realised they weren't the right ones. He frowned for a second before remembering what they were, "Oh yeah, you forgot these when we left the truck. You were so eager to get in the subway tunnel that you left them dangling on the ignition. Honestly Carrots, that's just _asking_ for it to get stolen."

Judy's ears rose to the sky and took the keys from Nick's paw, "Sweet cheese and crackers! I completely forgot about them! Thanks Nick, having to explain why the family truck got stolen to my parents would've been the icing to the cake. I am already gonna have a hard time telling them about everything else that's happened."

"Let's not keep them waiting then," said Nick, finally able to find the right set of keys and unlocking the door, "Welcome to 'Wilde Manor'! It's not much, but feel free to make yourself at home."

Once the door opened entirely and the pair took a couple of steps inside Judy's eyes grew wide. The entrance led to a spacious living room with a fox-sized couch sitting in the middle facing a 50' flat-screen T.V. connected to a top-of-the-line Hi-Fi system, a Blu-ray player and a game console on the wall directly on her right. At both sides of the setup were two bookcases, one filled with Blu-Rays and DVDs and the other filled with CDs.

A few feet behind the couch sat a dining table with four chairs around it, and behind it were two glass sliding doors that lead to a small balcony outside. On the far left corner was a kitchenette fitted with an oven and a dishwasher, a cupboard on the wall on top of it. A small white fridge sat on the left wall close to the kitchenette and was the only object on that side.

On the right wall was a door that opened to a corridor with two other doors that Judy supposed led to a bathroom and a bedroom. Everything from the appliances to the white paint of the walls looked brand new, and the rabbit was in awe.

"Not much?! Nick, the apartment I lived in would fit three times over in your living room alone! How can you afford this?" asked Judy.

"The rent is cheap because we're very close to the Climate Control Wall of TundraTown, so it gets very chilly at night. Not many mammals like the cold, but it never bothered me. And once you learn that online shops are far more convenient than malls, and know where to look, an entire new world of possibilities opens up to you Carrots," explained Nick. In his many years on the streets he learned to look for the best deals for basically anything, and in this day and age the internet had plenty of those.

Judy considered the explanation for a few moments, and ultimately nodded. It made sense that the position of the house affected the price, and online deals _were_ pretty cheap. Still, she felt like Nick was selling his flat short.

"C'mon, let's get you off that leg," said Nick, closing the front door with a kick backwards and helping Judy towards the sofa. Once she was sat on it, Judy felt like she could melt. It was made with mammals bigger than her in mind, so she had plenty of room to stretch on her seat and it was probably the softest couch she ever sat on. Closing her eyes and sinking deeper into the cushions she let a small sigh escape her mouth and felt ready to fall asleep again, until Nick's voice coming from another room had her eyes open once again.

"You have an iCarrot right?" asked Nick, his voice coming from the room on the left side of the corridor. She didn't even notice him leave, let alone open the door. She craned her neck to see better, but all she could get a glimpse of was an old dresser and the white wall behind it.

"Yeah, last year's model!" said Judy, her voice a little louder in case Nick couldn't hear her. She heard some rustling and seconds later Nick emerged from the room, a charger in one paw and an extension cord in the other. Once in the living room again, he crouched right besides the bookcase closest to the wall, plugged one end of the extension cord to the wall, and plugged the charger to the other, offering it to Judy.

Judy fished out her phone from her pocket and immediately connected it with the charger. A flashing battery came on the screen, indicating that the phone was charging, but would need a moment before booting the OS.

Nick had wandered off once again, this time towards the fridge. He opened it and inspected its contents, surmising that he will have to make a grocery run soon, but they be dying from starvation that night. Spotting an open case of sodas on the lower shelf, he tilted his head back and asked, "Want a drink Carrots?"

"Oh yes, please! I don't suppose you got carrot juice, do you?"

"Nope, but I got blueberry soda!"

"What's with you and blueberries?" asked Judy, an eyebrow quirked upwards.

"What's with you and carrots?" Nick fired back immediately.

"Touchè. I'll gladly take one, thank you," said Judy conceding the point.

Grabbing two cans from the cardboard box and closing the fridge behind him, Nick approached the couch and offered one to the rabbit sitting on it, before plopping down on it himself. Popping open the lid, both fox and rabbit took large swigs of the sweet and cold drink, sighing in contentment afterwards at the same time.

"Tell me how you like this plan Carrots; I take quick shower while you talk to your parents, then you grab one too while I make something for dinner. Lastly, a nice movie to unwind before we sleep for six weeks. Sounds good?" asked Nick before finishing his drink, a tired note to his voice.

Judy hummed, "Yeah, sounds alright. Ugh, I'm really not looking forward to this phone call," said Judy dragging a paw on her face. Nick smiled empathetically, he knew a thing or two about calling your parents after getting into a mess. He was a real troublemaker during his teens, and his mother always had to come to the rescue, bless her soul.

"The sooner you rip that band-aid, the better. Take it from an expert," said Nick after he got up from the couch, not without some difficulty.

Judy's interest was piqued. Since the episode on the gondola in the RainForest District, she had been wanting to know more about Nick's past. She wanted to understand him better, and what better way to do that than knowing his life played out?

"You had to make a lot of these call in your time, Slick?" she asked tentatively, wary of pushing the subject on him.

Nick's left ear flicked, and he simply shrugged. To her credit it was a nice try, but the fox was too used to keeping his history to himself and avoided talking about it in general, so he catched on what she was doing in a flash. Still, instead of just closing her out, he decided to play it cool.

"I could spend hours retelling the tale of my rebellious streak as a teen, but your parents are waiting and I'm sure they're _very eager_ to talk with you," said Nick with a wink.

Judy groaned, her ears falling limp at her shoulders and she sunk into the cushions once again. Nick chuckled and wandered off to the bathroom. With nothing else left to do except to face the music, Judy placed her half finished soda on the ground and reluctantly picked up her phone, pressing down on the power button.

After a second a glowing white carrot appeared on the screen, before vanishing just as quickly replaced by the lockscreen. She tapped her passcode on the numbers displayed on the screen, and after a couple of seconds the phone unlocked. Once again after seeing the notifications her jaw dropped and her ears snapped up. 117 messages and 231 missed calls, her parents were _definitely_ freaking out. She sighed and started mentally preparing for what was about to come, when the sound of running water and quiet singing caught her ears.

Swiveling her head to the corridor, she strained her hearing trying to catch the tune Nick was singing. It was a popular song from the eighties that she heard from time to time, but she couldn't remember the name of. Still, she wouldn't have thought Nick to be the type to sing in the shower, and he wasn't half bad either. She couldn't be a hundred percent sure because the water was covering him a lot, but his singing didn't sound off-key to her. An amused smile grew on her face and she listened to Nick's singing for a couple more seconds before returning her attention to the phone in her paws, ' _Let's get this over with,_ ' she thought, before pressing the MuzzleTime icon and selecting her parents' contact.

Exactly one ring later her mother's face appeared on screen, fur ruffled and eyes full of worry. "Judy! Oh thank the lord you're alive!" said Bonnie, relief evident both on her face and in her voice.

"Hi mom," said Judy a bit sheepishly.

"Stu, quick come here, Judy's on the phone!" immediately after her mother called out to her father, Judy heard something crash in the background and the sound of someone running. Stu Hopps got to the phone in less than three seconds, and when Bonnie turned the screen towards him to let her husband see Judy, he was heavily panting, his brown fur as much of a mess as the grey one of his wife. His eyes were red, a clear sign that at some point not so long before he was crying.

"Oh thank God! We were so worried! We saw the news talking about the mayor and how she was behind the attacks in the city, and they said you stopped her but got injured! We tried to call you so many times but you weren't picking up! And… And… And… Oh cripes!" said Stu all in one breath, before he started fanning his eyes with his paw.

"We didn't know what to do! We were just getting ready to come to Zootopia. You can't give us a scare like that!" reprimanded Bonnie.

"Guys, calm down. Every-" Judy tried to interject before the discussion got out of paw, but was immediately cut-off by Stu.

"You took off without saying where you were going! You just raved about wolves and asked for the keys to the truck before pelting away!" said the buck between sobs.

"And you disappeared for hours! We know that you're an adult now Judy, but we're your parents! We still worry about you!" added Bonnie, seemingly on the verge of tears too.

"Guys please, if you'd just let me-" again judy tried to say her piece, but got interrupted before she could say more than a few syllables.

"And… And then we hear on the T.V. that you got injured while capturing Bellwether, and you weren't answering our calls, and... And…" the dam had burst, and Stu started crying without any reservation.

"We didn't know what to think Judy, we were scared out of our minds."

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhh." wailed Stu.

"Your father has been like this for hours now! He stopped a couple of times whenever they were talking about you on T.V., only to immediately start again once it was over. I knew that letting you go to Zootopia was a mistake."

"Waaaaaaaaaaaahhh."

"Being a cop is too dangerous for a bunny, but you never listened to us, too stubborn. And now you went and almost died on us! That's where I draw the line young lady! You're coming back to BunnyBurrow and you're settling down like we've been telling you to do," said Bonnie, looking more and more agitated by the minute.

That was the last straw. Judy knew that her parents could get overwhelming at times, too protective of their children to really know when to stop, but her mother was treating her like she was twelve again and was trying to tell her how to live her life. All the symptoms of exhaustion vanished from her body, replaced with white hot rage. Her eyes widened and her pupils shrank, her ears standing rigidly above her head.

" _ENOUGH_!" Judy shouted, sending her best death glare to the screen of her phone. The scream had the desired effect, and both her parents fell silent instantly, noses twitching madly. Even Nick stopped singing under the shower, a fact that would've amused her if she wasn't so outraged. With a tone so icy it could rival the frigid climate of TundraTown, Judy spoke, "I will pretend I didn't hear you calling what I worked my whole life for a mistake Mother, and if both of you will let me talk for more than two seconds without interrupting me, I'll explain what happened."

Still keeping her death glare she waited waited a second before continuing, daring them both to _try_. When all she received was a nod from the couple, she began retelling everything that's happened in the last fourteen hours. From her reconciliation with Nick, to them finding out about Doug's underground lab, and their eventual face-off with Bellwether. She carefully omitted the part where they threatened Weaseleton with the aid of a Mafia boss, or how they crashed said underground lab and only barely survived. Her temper cooled off during her explanation, but she was still majorly put off by her mother's comment. She should've expected it really, it has been like that her whole life, but it still hurt knowing she didn't believe in her.

"The doctor said it's nothing that will leave permanent damage and it will heal quickly, but I still have to go back to the hospital in three days for a check-up, so I'm staying at Nick's. He offered me to stay at his place until I can find a new apartment here in the city," said Judy finishing her recounting of the crazy day she had.

Bonnie and Stu looked at each other once she was done, both fidgeting on their feet. After a second or so of awkward silence Stu mustered enough courage to talk again, "Judy, are you sure it's appropriate for you to stay at this boy's house?"

Judy rolled her eyes and pinched her nose with a paw, ' _Out of everything I just told them,_ this _is the first question they ask me?_ '. Her left ear twitched and she heard the sound of the bathroom door unlocking. She glanced in that direction and caught a glimpse of Nick getting out of the room clad in only a towel around his waist, fur still damp and clinging to his form going towards the bedroom. She immediately looked away and plopped her ears on her back, a slight pink hue to them. ' _On second thought, they might be onto something…_ '

She quickly shook those thought out of her head and went to reassure her parents, "Don't get any weird ideas. We're just friends, and he offered to help me because of that. There's nothing else going on."

This time it was Bonnie who spoke up, "It just seems very convenient that he opened his house to you without expecting anything in return, don't you think?"

Judy couldn't believe her ears. Was her mother really insinuating what she thought she was? Her rage made a brief reappearance and she felt offended on Nick's behalf, "He risked his life multiple times to help me, forgave me after I made what is probably the biggest mistake of my life and you think he just wants to have his way with me?" said Judy hotly. Did her parents really think that was Nick's end goal? And even in the unlikely situation that was the case, did they really think she would let it happen? Did they have so little faith in her?

Sensing this was _not_ going to end well, Stu tried to change the subject. The buck was extremely aware of just how bad a fight between the two does could go. Their infamous shouting matches could be heard through the entire burrow. "Okay, okay! No need to get angry, if you say this Nick fella isn't up to no good then it must be true, so let's move on shall we? Uuuh… Oh! What about the truck?" Stu anxiously asked, praying that this would be enough to sway his wife and daughter from going at it.

Judy realised what her father was doing, and decided to be the bigger mammal and drop the discussion. She had a lot more she wanted to say, but doing so would just spark an argument. "I can drive it back to the farm after the check-up this weekend, and take the chance to take my things back with me too."

Stu let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and thanked the stars his attempt at steering the conversation worked. "Sounds good to me Jude! Why don't you bring your friend with you too?"

"What!?" both Judy and Bonnie sounded at the same time.

"Yeah, bring him with ya, so we can meet him and properly thank him for helping our little girl save the city! You can spend the weekend here, and go back Monday!" said the buck, pointedly ignoring the incredulous stare both does were sending him.

"Wait you can't just-" Judy tried to protest, but Stu didn't gave her the chance.

"It's settled then! We'll be seeing both of you guys Friday! We love you! Bye!" rushed out Stu before ending the call. He knew that the longer the conversation went on, the higher were the chances that mother and daughter would go back to bickering. He could deal with one or the other individually, but when together nothing could stop them. So he decided to take the reins of the call, and end it quickly so he could talk with Bonnie and try to calm her down.

Judy was incredulous for a second more, still trying to understand what exactly just happened. She then dropped her paw on the couch and muttered a disheartened "Bye…," while looking at the ceiling.

"Your parents sound like lovely people."

The rabbit whipped her head to the left and saw Nick leaning on the doorframe of the corridor, arms crossed on his chest and his ever present smug look firm in place. Instead of his usual combo of khaki pants and pawaiian patterned shirt, the todd was wearing a plain grey t-shirt and blue shorts.

"How long have you been there?" asked Judy. She didn't even notice him coming out the bedroom.

"Long enough to hear your mother call me out on my bluff. And I thought it was the perfect plan too! I'll have to come up with another air-tight scheme to, how did you put it? 'Have my way with you'," said Nick, a decisively vulpine grin on his mouth.

Judy's paw came up to her face and she pinched her nose again. A faint migraine making itself known in the back of her head. "I'm sorry you had to hear that Nick, I don't know what's gotten into them."

"Don't be. I'd probably be the same if not worse if my daughter told me she was going to stay with a stranger for a while," said Nick shrugging his shoulders.

"Still, they shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions. They don't even know you!" protested Judy. A little nagging voice in her head very similar to that of her mother, pointed out that neither did she, really. She was quick to ignore it.

"As I said, don't worry about it. Now go take your shower while I put together something edible for dinner. I left you some clothes in there if you want. They're my size so they won't fit perfectly, but they're clean," explained Nick before helping Judy down the couch and to the bathroom.

The parquet on the floor of the rest of the apartment was replaced with blue tiles that crawled up half the wall as well. A white porcelain sink with a large cabinet with a mirror hanging over it was placed on the left and a toilet was right besides it. A washing machine and a clothes hamper were on the opposite side, and at the end of the room sat the shower, the opaque glass of the cabin closed.

"So, you need any help with this?" asked Nick,gesturing towards the shower. The vulpine grin from before returning.

A fierce blush coursed through Judy's entire body, and she turned wide eyes towards the red menace that was helping her stand, "NO! Get out of here you pervert!" she almost shouted, only half joking about the pervert part.

"Darn, another masterfully crafted plan foiled! You bunnies are not as dumb as they say," said Nick chuckling. He then turned around and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Now standing alone, Judy carefully moved to the shower and turned the hot water knob letting it get to temperature before making quick work of her clothes. She then sat on the lid of the toilet and carefully removed the bandages on her leg, revealing the patch of shaved fur and the stitches underneath it. She wobbly stood up again, and entered the shower.

The hot water was heavenly in that moment, and Judy felt her entire body relax and melt under the stream. All the stress and troubles of the day flowed down the drain, leaving her feeling not only clean, but also rejuvenated. After a short time of just enjoying the feeling of warm water rushing through her fur, Judy took the bottle of generic fur shampoo sitting on the floor of the shower and quickly cleaned herself. After rinsing the suds of soap off her body, she turned off the jet of water, and stepped out of the cabin.

She looked around for something to dry herself with and noticed a folded towel sitting on top of the hamper on her left. She preferred to use a fur-dryer but beggars can't be choosers, so for now the towel will have to do. Taking it into her paw she saw that the clothes Nick had prepared for her were right under it. She smiled at the thoughtful gesture and started using the, for her at least, full body towel to dry her fur. ' _If this really is just an attempt to get into my panties, he's at least putting_ way _more effort in it than any of the bucks back in BunnyBurrow did._ '

Once she felt she was dry enough, she put the now wet towel next to her dirty clothes, and picked up the ones Nick left her. They were an old, but comfortable looking black t-shirt with the logo for the band "Meowtallica" and a pair of grey shorts. She tried the t-shirt first, and looked down at herself. It was almost a dress on her, going all the way down to her knees, and the collar of it was loose enough let a shoulder peek out. She then tried the shorts, but no matter how much she tried to, there was no way to make them not fall off at the slightest movement so she simply didn't wear them. She considered putting her jeans on again, but she didn't want put on dirty and bloodied clothes right after her shower, so she simply didn't wear any, deciding that the t-shirt was covering her enough not to be scandalous.

Limping heavily, she made her way out of the bathroom, after putting her used clothes and towel in the hamper. Once in the living room again the smell of food hit her nose like a freight train, and she realised just how hungry she was. Her stomach came to the same realisation too, and decided to make its annoyance known with a very loud growl.

Ears perking at the sound, Nick turned towards her with an amused expression, "Roar to you too, Carrots. Didn't know bunnies could growl."

Judy pouted slightly at that. "Shut up. I'm hungry and what you're cooking smells way too good right now. What is it?"

"Nothing special, just what I had in the fridge. Stirfried eggplant, bell peppers, onions, olives and cherry tomatoes with some tofu and mashed potatoes to the side," explained Nick. It sounded like an odd mix to Judy, but right then she would've eat a tyre if it was presented to her on a plate, so she didn't voice her doubts and slowly made her way to the table. Nick offered to help, but she refused, saying that she was starting to feel like baby having to be carried around.

Minutes later Nick placed a plate full of the concoction he made in front of her, and she eyed it for a second. It smelled paradisiac, yet looked anything but. She tentatively took a forkful of it and put it in her mouth, only to groan in ecstasy right after. It was the perfect mix between sweet and spicy, and the tofu was bland enough not to overpower the vegetables. She loved it, and started devouring it with gusto.

The pair ate in relative silence, both of them too hungry enough that any thought not pertinent with the food in front of them was banished from their minds. After finishing, they both felt stuffed and drowsy but extremely content. Nick was lazily picking his teeth and Judy was marveling in that food afterglow only a good meal after a long day can give you.

"Glad you liked it Fluff, wasn't sure you would," said Nick after glancing over to her.

Judy turned her eyes towards the fox in an incredulous look, "Are you kidding? That was amazing Nick! Where did you learn to cook so well?"

"Meh, I'm no chef, but when I started to live on my own I quickly realised that eating only takeaway and fast food wasn't very good for both my health and my wallet, so I had no other option than learn how to cook myself. My first attempts were the stuff of nightmares, but after a while I got the hang of it," said Nick nonchalantly.

"I'd say you got more than just the hang of it. Seriously that was really good," said Judy and she made a mental note to ask him to teach her how to make the meal herself.

"Thank you. Come on, I believe that a movie is in our immediate future, after I rebandage your leg," said Nick before getting up from his chair and offering a paw to Judy. The pair made their way to the couch again, and after helping Judy sit on it, Nick went to the bathroom and came out with a first-aid kit in his paw. He took a roll of gauze from it and bent down in front of her.

Judy offered her leg to him, and Nick's eyes went wide, before he turned to the side with his ears splayed on his head. "Uh, Judy? You're not wearing the short I gave you?"

Blushing for the upteempth time that day, Judy looked down and saw that the t-shirt she was wearing as a dress rode up to her waist when she raised her leg, and her panties were exposed for everyone to see. Quickly pulling it down, she looked to the side as well and gave her explanation, "They were way too big, and no matter what I did, they would just fall off, so I didn't bother…"

"I see. I don't really have anything smaller, sorry."

"No, no! I-It's okay, I should've been more careful with the shirt."

A beat of silent awkwardness fell on the duo, both glancing to one another and not knowing what to do, before Nick cleared his throat. "Moving on then, stay still for a second," he said before carefully wrapping the gauze over the stitches. He took extra care to not upset her injury, moving so meticulously Judy almost didn't feel his paws at all.

After he was done, he delicately let go of Judy's leg and stood up, moving towards the bookcase full of movies on his wall. "So, what movie are you in the mood for Carrots? Drama? Comedy? Horror? Action?"

"I don't really know to be honest, I don't watch that many movies."

"Hmm… Ha! Then how about a little bit of everything?" asked Nick before taking a blu-ray out of a shelf and showing it to Judy.

"'Pulp Fiction'? Never saw that one, is it good?" asked the rabbit after looking at the cover. A female ocelot was laying on her stomach and holding a cigarette in her paw, her legs crossed in the air behind her. The title above the picture in bold yellow letter on a red background.

The look of pure shock and bewilderment Nick gave her would make you think she just offended his entire family. " _Excuse you_? You never saw this masterpiece? Did you live under a rock for the last twenty years or something?" asked Nick in an unbelieving tone.

Judy simply rolled her eyes at his antics. "Well, if you would decide to finally put the movie on and stop your melodramatics, maybe I could rectify my mortal mistake Slick."

Nick smirked bowing his head, and turned towards his entertainment system. While she looked him work on his T.V. and Blu-ray reader, a chill suddenly crept up on Judy and she shivered wrapping her arms around her torso. After he finished setting up the movie, Nick turned to the couch again with a remote in his paw and looked at Judy, seeing her huddled up on herself. He hurriedly went to his room, and came back with a blanket in his paws.

"I told you it gets cold in the evening. Here take this," he said with an apologetic look on his face before giving the blanket to Judy.

She nodded her thanks, and quickly wrapped the warm looking fabric tightly around her. The effect was almost immediate, and warmth returned to her body once more. Satisfied with how Judy wasn't shivering anymore, Nick finally sat on the couch too, "Get ready Fluff, because you're about to watch one of the best movies of our times. Prepare to be amazed!"

"With how much you're hyping it, this better be the best movie I've ever watched or I'll be severely disappointed," said Judy with a grin on her face.

"Trust me, you won't be," said Nick before pressing play on the remote.

The screen faded to black, and music started coming out of the speakers. They both made themselves comfortable on the couch, getting ready to enjoy the movie to the max.

As soon as the opening credits ended, they were out like a light.

 **A/N: Holy dialogue Batman! Seriously, this freaking chapter was a pain in my a**! I struggled a lot with all these lines, not to talk about all the describing and world building I had to put in this. Brrr. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and as always every bit of feedback is greatly appreciated! Also Fun Fact™: I made the monstrosity Nick cooked for dinner in this chapter a couple of weeks ago, only using chicken instead of tofu. Let me tell you, after it's done it looks like someone just barfed on your plate, but it actually tastes pretty good!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Not Over It Yet

**A/N: Sorry for the big delay with this chapter, but life's a bitch sometimes, and this week it really went all out with it. This is another dialogue heavy chapter because I genuinely enjoy suffering. Hope you do too!**

Warmth was the first thing her sleep addled brain picked up on. She was surrounded in it, and it was seeping to her very core. The second thing she noticed was a slow rhythm. It was soft and muffled, but her ears were sensitive enough to hear it nonetheless. It was almost like a lullaby, compelling her to surrender herself to sleep once more. All of this, coupled with the fact that she was still very tired, made the decision almost too obvious for her. Nuzzling the incredibly soft pillow her head was resting on, Judy was ready to let slumber take her again. Until her pillow moved.

Eyes snapping open, she winced, the soft light in the room she was in still too harsh for her sensitive corneas. Once her eyes adapted to the light all she saw was a blurred sea of reddish orange. Craning her head up Judy looked around the unfamiliar room, trying to get her bearings.

The first thing that caught her eyes was the screen of the very big T.V. facing her displaying the menu for a movie. The haze fogging her mind cleared up a little, and she finally remembered where she was. She was temporarily staying with Nick, and this was his living room.

Her entire body relaxing now that she recognized the unfamiliar setting, Judy turned her head down to look at where she was sleeping and was surprised once more. Until moments ago her head was resting on Nick's tail. She craned her neck backwards to look behind her and found the rest of him curled around her. His face was completely relaxed, his mouth very slightly agape and softly snoring. His ears were splayed on the sides of his head, and his nose was almost imperceptibly wiggling with his every breath. She didn't know when she fell asleep, let alone when they basically started spooning each other but no matter how she tried to look at it, she couldn't bring herself to think it was a bad thing. Nick was clearly not bothered by it, and she was still feeling the almost numbing warmth course through her body, dissuading her from leaving such a comfortable embrace. With the last dregs of doubt leaving her mind, Judy lowered her head and hugged the wonderfully soft appendage in front of her with a sigh of contentment, looking forward to some more hours of rest.

 _BEEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEP!_

Both jumping at the blaring sound coming from her phone, Judy scrambled for the device sitting on the floor, turning it off after a good fifteen seconds of juggling it in her paws. Silence fell in the room, save from the ragged breath of a rabbit and a fox.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack, rabbit?" asked Nick, clearly not happy with what just happened.

"Sorry, I forgot to turn off my alarm last night," said Judy with a hint of guilt in her voice, still looking at the phone rather than Nick.

"What time is it anyway?"

"Five thirty in the morning."

A loud and irritated groan escaped him, and he lazily got up from the couch, dragging a paw on his face. His eyes still closed, he made his way to the kitchenette and started rummaging in the cupboard, "Want some coffee?"

Judy finally looked at him, "Oh, huh no thank you. Rabbits and coffee don't really mix well together," she shivered, reminiscing about the time her cousin Robbie drank close to half a litre of the beverage in his teens, and almost burned the house down trying to cook breakfast for the entire family in less than ten minutes.

"Suit yourself," said Nick, his eyes still not entirely open. After some more seconds of rummaging he finally found what he was looking for, a bag of ground coffee beans. With the beans in one paw and a cup in the other, he turned to the coffee machine sitting on the counter. Throwing away the old filter and replacing it with a new one from the stack right besides the machine, Nick poured some of the ground coffee in it and turned it on, a whirring sound echoing in the room.

"How's the leg?" asked Nick leaning on the counter, waiting for his "morning kickstarter" as he dubbed it to be ready.

Judy tentatively rotated her foot and prodded a little at the gauze before answering, "I think it's fine. It doesn't hurt nearly as much as yesterday, and most of all I don't feel it throbbing anymore."

"Glad to hear that," said Nick, before yawning loudly, all of his teeth clearly visible to Judy from where she was sitting on the couch.

The pearly whites looked extremely sharp, and a paw instinctively went to her throat where they clamped down not a full day ago. Her eyes lost focus and she looked straight ahead.

Even if not completely awake yet, Nick still noticed her odd behaviour. He cocked his head to the side, his ears flopping with it, and observed her for a moment, trying to understand what she was doing. Once his still not fully operational brain didn't come up with an answer itself, he decided to voice his concerns, "Carrots, what's up?"

Her eyes were glazed over and she didn't move a muscle except for her wiggling nose. She was back in the pit, with a savage fox that looked like Nick but at the same time wasn't him. Froth was at the corners of his snarling muzzle and a growl echoed through the exhibit. Bellwether's laugh was reverberating in the air. Judy was backed up to the wall and was staring directly into the mindless eyes of the fox in front of her, pleading him to come back to reason. It was all to no avail, and the fox pounced, sinking his teeth deep in her larynx.

Having received no response from the rabbit slightly unsettled Nick, who straightened his head and asked again, this time louder, "Carrots, is everything okay?"

Slowly, Judy turned her head towards Nick, and with a tear falling from her eye leaving a wet track on her cheek and her ears falling limp, she breathed, "I should've died."

Nick mentally cursed, ' _Why can't these things never wait_ after _I take my coffee?!_ ' With a drawn out sigh, he moved away from the counter sending a last longing look at the machine and sat on the couch facing Judy and crossing his legs. She looked up at him, her expression downtrodden and on the verge of breaking into tears. Looking straight in her eyes, he asked, "What do you mean you should've died?"

Judy was looking right back at him, her eyes already wet and nose sniffling, "We should not be here Nick. I've put us in so many dangerous situations in just a pawful of hours, not even an action movie hero would've survived through that! And all just because I wanted to prove myself!" she was openly crying now. Each sob shook her body, and her voice cracking every other word.

"F-First we get kitnapped and… and almost 'iced' from a mafia boss, then a savage jaguar chases us through the Rainforest District! Th-Then we dive from a sewage pipe into a 100ft drop! And after I dragged you through all of this what do I do to thank you?! I go up on stage and basically call all predators dangerous and send Zootopia into a frenzy."

There was a pause in her speech, but Nick did not jump on it. He knew she just needed to vent right now, and let out everything that was on her mind. So he remained silent, ears and eyes focused on her, she had his undivided attention. After some more sobs and a deep breath, she continued.

"Oh but I wasn't done yet was I? After I ran and hid for three months, here I am again back from more! And of-of course I couldn't do it alone, noooooo! I just _had_ to drag you back into it again! So I look for you all around town, and after I find you and you're kind enough to forgive me what happens next?! Oh, I just _had_ to get the whole train full of evidence to the ZPD! The serum wasn't enough, no siree! So… So I hijack a _freaking_ train car and get in a fist fight on said car's rooftop! And the kicker? We CRASHED THE TRAIN! We should've been dead there, but by some miracle we survived…"

Another pause, only this wasn't to recuperate her breath. If up until now she was agitated and almost shouting, this time she visibly deflated. Her eyes lowered to the couch, and her voice dropped to a whisper.

"Then the pit happened…" she said with a mixture of fear and self-deprecation that Nick would've never in a million years imagined Judy could wear.

"I _really_ should have not survived that Nick. If it wasn't for you and your idea of switching the pellets with blueberries, I would not have came out of that pit alive. _You_ would be savage now, and Zootopia would still be in chaos, just because I… Because I couldn't-" she had reached the breaking point. Unable to talk anymore, she curled herself into a ball, and openly wailed. It all came crashing onto her. All the mistakes she made, all the wrong moves that almost costed not only her life, but also the life of what was probably the only mammal that really supported her throughout the whole journey. It was too much, and she just let everything loose.

Seeing this unfold in front of him, Nick felt heartbroken himself. Yes, she may have made some mistakes but she also saved the city in the process. Yet all she could see right now was the negative side of the coin. Knowing that trying to talk to her at that moment would be futile, Nick scooped her up gently and placed her on his lap, brought his tail around to cover the both of them and just embraced the bunny. Right now all she needed was comfort, and even if he wasn't totally sure how to comfort a rabbit, especially an emotional one like her, he knew that physical contact was always a good start.

As soon as she realised she was being hugged by Nick, Judy clung to his shirt and pushed her face to his chest trying to smother her cries and not make a fool out of her self more than she already did. She felt him pet her ears and back while mumbling something that even with her superb hearing she couldn't understand in her current state but was grateful for nonetheless.

This went on for several minutes, with the bunny desperately clinging to him, and the fox calmly reassuring and comforting her. After Judy was finally able to calm down she hugged Nick back, face still firmly planted on his chest.

"Thank you," said Judy, voice hoarse from her emotional breakdown and muffled by the fox's shirt.

"You're not perfect Judy. No one is," Judy snapped her head upwards. This was the first time she heard the fox use her real name and not a moniker he made up for her. "Yes, you _did_ some mistakes, and yes you _could've_ died. But you still tried. You still persevered, you still came back. You saved the city rabbit, yet you still only focus on the negatives. And while you might have had to blackmail me the first time, when you came back asking for my help I followed you willingly, on my own accord. So stop bashing yourself over it okay?" Nick finally looked down to her, and saw her stare at him with large reddened amethyst eyes and a wiggling nose. Her fur was a mess both from sleeping and their impromptu cuddling session, making for probably the most adorable and at the same time heart wrenching sight he ever beheld.

"Besides, I almost died plenty of times even before I met you Fluff, so don't give yourself too much credit," he smiled.

Judy's ears slowly raised up on her head once more, and she tentatively asked, "What do you mean?"

Nick's left ear flicked and he just stared at her for a moment or two, before looking up again. "Do you know what's the difference between a con mammal and a con _artist_?"

Judy's brows creased in confusion, and she tilted her head sideways, mimicking what Nick did some minutes ago, "No?"

"A con mammal leaves their mark angry, a con artist leaves their mark smiling," said Nick, with a small smile on his muzzle.

"When I started hustling I had no idea what I was doing. I was young and inexperienced and only barely managed to get enough money to survive until the next day. One time when I was 14, I decided to try a more complicated hustle. I wanted to see if i could pull it off, you know? I felt like a seasoned veteran already and wanted to prove myself. So I started spreading the word that I was selling very expensive rugs dirt cheap relative to their original price, very classy stuff straight from Purrsia. In reality, they were scanty imitation me and an associate of mine would put together barely a day prior. One day, a polar bear approaches me and tells me his boss is interested in buying one and wants to meet me. That should've been my first warning that something was off, but I was too overconfident back then."

Nick closed his eyes and shook his head before continuing, "So I follow the guy, all the way into Tundratown and up to this enormous mansion. That was the second warning, but I still ignored it. That's how I first met Mr. Big. At the time, I had no idea who he really was, and throughout our transaction he never identified himself as a crime boss, only as an interested buyer. We sat down over dinner and discussed the price and what type of rug he wanted. He didn't seem to mind that I was extremely young, only that I was selling something he wanted. At the end of the night we struck a deal for a black and white rug with a zebra pattern. One of Mr. Big henchmammals drove me back and I immediately went to my associate to work on the rug."

A rueful smile crept on his muzzle, "Turns out my friend knew just the right mammal to get the fur from. Can you guess where this is going?" he asked glancing down to Judy. She looked entranced in his story and only nodded, never breaking eye contact with him.

Nick chuckled and resumed his story, "We make the rug and the deal is a success. I felt like the king of the world after that. I actually managed to make considerable profit from one of my scams instead of pocket change. After I actually learned who the mammal I just conned actually was, I thought no one could stop me," Nick clicked his tongue, "I was a real idiot," he said with scorn in his voice.

"We continued with this little scam for a while and spent money like there was no tomorrow, enjoying life like the spoiled brats we were, until one day we got sloppy with our work. One of the rugs we were selling came loose and undid itself right in front of the buyer. He was obviously furious and demanded his money back, problem was we already spent it all. Boy, did we geta beating for that." Nick said with a smile. Rather than regret in his eyes there was fondness, like he was recalling a childhood story. That thought gave Judy some pause. He actually _was_ recalling a childhood story.

"Anyway, after that we decided to lay low for a while, we both didn't want to risk another beating and even if we spent most of it, we had enough money to stop for a short time. But I guess word got around fast that we were actually selling crap, because no more than 2 days later did Kevin and Raymond show up at a hangout spot I used to frequent. I tried to talk my way out of it, but it obviously didn't work. Only thing I got out of it was a gut punch from a polar bear and a hard shove into a limo. I was terrified of what was gonna happen, I couldn't see myself surviving this. Once I got in front of Mr. Big, I was 100% sure I was gonna die, if the look on his tiny face was anything to go by. I don't think I ever saw a mammal more infuriated in my life. He told me about the death of his 'grandmama', how he buried her in that same rug, that was apparently her favourite and how he found out only _after_ she was already 6 inches under that it was made out of a skunk's butt fur."

Nick's brows furrowed for a second, "To this day I still don't know how he found out about that detail but I guess that's a perk of his 'job', getting to know those kind of things. Anyway, after he explained all this to me, that's when the hatch comes off and I am dangling above my icy demise. Before he 'iced' me, Mr. Big said he had only one question for me; Why was I doing that at such a young age?"

If Judy seemed entranced before, now she looked sharp as a tack, completely focused on every word that would come out of Nick's muzzle. "The question took me by surprise, and I was hesitant at first but after realising that I was gonna die anyway, I just spilled everything. I told him about the Scouts, about how my Mother barely made ends meet, hell I've even told him about my father…" Nick stopped for a second and his eyes seemed to unfocus and stare at nothing in particular.

Judy could almost _see_ his brain going through the memories, "What happened to him?"

Nick's left ear twitched again, and he returned to the present, "That's not the important right now. The point his, Mr. Big must have took pity in me, because he ordered Kevin to put me down and close the hatch. I didn't know what was going on at this point, and all I could do was look directly at him, shaking like a leaf. He stared back at me and told me that he too was young and foolish once, so he understood my motives and would let me go this once but if I ever showed my face around his territory again, I would get what was coming to me. Needless to say I hightailed it out of there and never crossed paths with him until I met you," Nick finished his retelling and heaved a sigh, seemingly exhausted by only recalling the whole ordeal.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that Nick," said Judy, with real sorrow in her voice and lowering her ears. In her mind, no one should go through what Nick did while they were so young.

"I'm not," was the immediate response of the vulpine. Judy ears snapped up so fast they almost hit Nick on the snout.

"What? Why?"

"Because it taught me to know my limits and were to draw the line. It humbled me, and made me realise that I wasn't in fact untouchable. Just like you, I _should've_ died because of my mistakes, but I didn't. So I learned from them, I didn't let them stop me and I became better because of them," explained the reynard.

"What I'm trying to say Carrots, is that you should do the same. Don't make the mistakes you made stop you from becoming what you really want to be, and learn from them so you won't make them anymore."

Judy's eyes watered again. He was right, she shouldn't let what happened haunt her, but she should strive not to get herself in those situations again. She hugged him one more time, and even though she thought she had no more tears in her after her breakdown, some sobs still managed to escape her. "T-Thank you Nick"

Nick gently hugged her back, "There, there. Seriously, what is it with you bunnies and crying? It's starting to get creepy."

Judy snorted and lightly tapped him in the back, "Shut up and let me have this."

Some seconds later she pulled away from him and rubbed her eyes with her paws, trying to dry some of the tears from her fur. With a small smile on her face she looked at Nick again, "I bet this was not how you thought your morning would go, is it?"

Nick chuckled, "No definitely not, but I had worse. Now however, I am in desperate need of a coffee," he said before gently picking up Judy again and sitting her on the couch. "You said you didn't want any, but maybe I can tempt you with some tea?"

Her smile growing, Judy nodded, "I would really like that, thank you."

With a nod of his own, Nick got up from the couch and got to the kitchenette once more. His coffee was cold at this point, and even if it pained him to waste even a spill of the beverage, he poured it over in the sink. If there was anything worse than bad coffee, it was _cold_ coffee. So he prepared the machine once more, and put a teapot on the stove for Judy.

Judy remained silent and just observed the fox at work. She was still feeling a bit off, and she was just mentally recuperating. Her ears still drooped, but with a smile on her muzzle, she thought of how fortunate she was to have a friend like Nick in her life. He seemed to believe in her even when Judy herself didn't, and that was something the bunny never knew she needed so much until now.

After a while a shrill whistle erupted from the teapot, and the humming from the coffee machine stopped almost simultaneously. Gathering two mugs from the cupboard, Nick poured both liquids into them and turned towards Judy, "Black, green, or mint tea Carrots?"

Judy weighed her options for a moment, before picking green tea. She heard somewhere that it was supposed to help you relax, and she thought she could use it in that moment. Nodding, Nick dropped the small tea bag into the mug and got back on the couch, offering it to her. She gladly accepted relishing the warmth seeping through her paws.

"So now that we averted _that_ crisis, I have to bring up an obvious issue," said Nick after he took a sip of the still scalding hot coffee in his paws. If he didn't know it already, he would have been surprised of how much he loved it.

Judy quirked an eyebrow at that, "What issue?"

"Your clothing situation Carrots. As much as I love how cu-" a death glare coming from the rabbit made Nick gulp and correct himself, " _adorable_ you look in that oversized shirt, it's not really something you can wear in public now, is it?"

Judy kept her glare for a couple of more seconds for good measure, but it didn't seem to faze Nick all that much, so with a sigh she dropped it and thought about what the fox just said. "Yeah you're right. I guess you have a solution?"

Nick smirked at her, "Glad to see you're learning. I propose that after we're finished with our drinks since your leg seems to be better, I put a laundry load with your clothes and after that we go out for a quick bite and a little bit of shopping, just until you can go back to Bunnyburrow and get your stuff."

"Until _we_ can go back Nick. My dad wants to meet you too, remember?"

"Yeeeah about that, are you sure it's a good idea? A fox in a house full of rabbits isn't really the best idea I've ever heard. I wouldn't want to cause more trouble than it's worth," Nick nervously explained.

"You wouldn't be the first fox my family ever met Nick, don't worry. Besides, you would cause more trouble by not coming at this point. My parents already think of you as this sex crazed monster, not showing up would only make it worse," Judy reassured.

Nick hummed, "If you say so Carrots," he was still clearly unconvinced. This made Judy a little worried, maybe he wasn't comfortable in meeting her parents? But why would he be? He wasn't her boyfriend or anything, so it shouldn't matter to him right?

Judy didn't have enough time to wonder on that however, as Nick quickly changed the subject back to the original conversation, "So what do you say? Think you can handle some _Wilde_ shopping?" he asked as he waggled his eyebrows and drew closer.

Judy snorted, and put a paw to his snout pushing it away, "You're terrible! And yeah, I think I can manage a little bit of shopping," her ears snapped to attention once more and her nose wiggled when she remembered and important detail. "Or rather I would, if I had more than 30 dollars on me," she said as she looked back to the bathroom door, where her jeans and wallet resided.

Nick shrugged, "I can lend you some if you want."

Judy shook her head in the negative, "You are already doing more than necessary Nick, I can't ask you that too!"

"Carrots, I'm not lending you money to go gambling, I'm lending you money to buy _clothes_. Stop being so hesitant about it!" said Nick. He couldn't understand why she was making it such a big deal. Money were such a fickle thing.

Judy frowned, "I'll accept on the condition that as soon as we get to Bunnyburrow I will pay you back."

"Will me saying yes to that make you shut up about this whole 'doing too much' business?" asked Nick with a smirk.

"Just shut up and accept you dumb fox!"

Nick chuckled and shook his head. This bunny was too stubborn for her own good. He sent a smile her way, "Drink up Carrots, we got an exciting day ahead of us."

 **A/N: And that's that. Little bit heavy for bed talk isn't it? Honestly, this was a real challenge for me, because the amount of emotion displayed in this chapter alone was almost overwhelming to write. I hope I did them justice and portrayed them fairly. As always all reviews and feedback on how to improve or where I did wrong is more than appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Sweet Home Bunnyburrow

**A/N: Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.**

* * *

" _But I would walk 500 miles! And I would walk 500 more! Just to be the mammal who walks a thousand miles to fall down at your door!_ "

The young and bubbly voice of Judy echoed in the cabin of the truck, staying perfectly on the beat of the song coming from the ancient speakers but oh so off-key. They have been en-route to Bunnyburrow for two hours now, having departed from Nick's apartment at the ungodly (for the fox) hour of six in the morning. They spent the first hour mostly in silence except a couple words here and there. Nick had yet to fully wake up, and Judy was being very careful driving in the city since she hadn't had many opportunities to do so, therefore conversation wasn't really an option.

Now however, they were cruising through a deserted road going through the forests in the outskirts of Zootopia and Judy was much more confident with her driving. This led to her bringing the radio to life, feeding it an old music cassette that was sitting on the dashboard and immediately start singing along. If Nick wasn't convinced that coming along was a good idea, now he was positive it was a mistake. He was sure the rabbit had many talents, but singing definitely wasn't one of them.

He eyed Judy from where he was sitting in the passenger seat and suppressed a groan when she hit the next note, or at least tried to. She was lightly bouncing in her seat along with the music, her ears flopping with every movement of her head. The next thing he noticed were her clothes. She was wearing a light blue long-sleeved blouse and a pair of form-fitting jeans. A small smirk crossed his muzzle when the memory of their trip to the mall came back in his mind.

* * *

At first the bunny was amazed just by the size and the variety of the shops in the building, which made Nick quirk an eyebrow. Judy explained that in the short period she spent in the city, she didn't have much time to explore because of her work and this was her first time visiting a mall so big. "The one we have in Bunnyburrow is much smaller and has half as many shops!" she said. Nick hummed and nodded. Being as eager as she was, he expected her to tour the entire city two times over the first day she came here, but apparently even Judy Hopps had her limits.

Since neither of them was hungry yet, they decided to postpone their mid morning brunch and start their shopping right away. Nick had pawed her three one hundred dollars bills, and she looked at him like he was giving her poison. "What?"

"Are you out of your mind?! That's way too much money to buy clothes for just a couple of days!"

"Then buy clothes for more than 'just a couple of days'. They're not gonna expire, Carrots."

"I don't need more clothes Nick, I have a full wardrobe at home."

"Which I'm sure is comprised of the same outfit over and over again," snarked the fox.

"I'm not gonna take that from Mister Pawaiian-shirts-and-khakis over here. Seriously, that is the third variation of the same shirt I see you wearing. Do you even have anything else in _your_ wardrobe?" said Judy, gesturing at the red shirt with a white flower pattern he was donning.

Nick dramatically brought a paw to his chest and assumed a bewildered expression, "Madam, I'll have you know that this was the height of fashion twenty years ago!" he said in a mock offended tone, which drew a snort and a giggle from Judy. "Besides, I only wear this get-up when I know I'm gonna go to a place full of people. Their attention is drawn to the clothes rather than the mammal wearing them, and it helps more than you think."

He spotted a look of concern growing on her face, and immediately went to squash it. He was a fox, and people didn't trust foxes. That's just how things were, and he came to accept it. He didn't need her pity. "How about this, I'll make you a deal: If you let me pick your outfits for each of the next seven days, I'll let you pick mine. No money restriction and no complaining from either of us," he said before offering his paw to shake on it.

Judy looked thoughtful for a pawful of seconds before a grin spread on her tiny muzzle and she shook the proffered paw enthusiastically. A fact that concerned Nick greatly. He might have distracted her from her previous thoughts, but now he agreed to what could possibly be public humiliation on his own terms. Not even a month had passed since his last hustle, and he was already losing his edge.

The next three hours passed between changing rooms and clothing shops of all kinds. He decided to play nice and pick actually good looking outfits in the hopes that Judy would follow his example. A hope that was crashed as soon as she picked the outfit he had to wear that day. An oversized brown sweater with a giant green V on its front and a pair of black cargo shorts. Clothes that, in her words, were supposed to be "hip" and "cool". They obviously weren't, if the full belly laugh coming from the rabbit as soon as he came out of the changing room was any indication. He shot her the most deadpan look he could've mustered and that only amplified the volume of her laugh, now attracting the eyes of several other patrons. With a sigh, he resigned to a week of horrible clothes, knowing he had no one to blame but himself.

Judy surprised him however, and actually chose very decent outfits for the rest of the week. The one he liked the most was the one he was wearing right now. A dark grey vest with a white button up shirt underneath it, the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. A black tie and slacks

to complete the look. Not exactly formal and not exactly casual.

* * *

A ping distracted him from his musings and made Judy momentarily stop her singing, much to the fox's relief. Pulling her phone out of her jeans' pocket, she offered it to Nick, "Could you see who it is please?"

An amused grin grew on his muzzle, "Giving me your phone so easily Carrots? What if I decided to snoop around and find out your darkest secrets?"

Judy rolled her eyes and offered the phone once more, "I have nothing to hide Wilde. And even if I did, you're about to meet my family. There's never been a secret that remained so for more than twenty minutes with them. Now _please_ , I don't want to stop just to check on a message."

Taking the phone from her paw, he chuckled, "You know you're not in uniform right? You don't have to be an example 24/7."

Judy looked at him like he suddenly grew two heads, "Nick! Just because I'm not wearing my badge it doesn't mean the law doesn't apply to me!"

Now it was the fox's turn to roll his eyes. Moving his thumb across the screen of the phone to unlock it, Nick tapped the message notification to read it. The sender was one 'Jeffy' and the message said: [Hey Jude, Mom wants to know how long until and your boyfriend will get here!]. He snorted in amusement and asked, "Did I miss something in our relationship, Fluff?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked back Judy, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion. Nick read the message out loud and both of Judy's ears dropped behind her head in annoyance, her brows now forming a flat line, "Ignore that, they do it every time I mention a male friend. Tell him we'll be there in two hours."

Nick nodded and asked, "Family desperate to hitch you off?" while typing his response, [Hey bud, Nick here. Judy says we'll be there in a couple of hours if she doesn't kill us first with her driving! And I'm sorry to rain on your parade, but I'm not her boyfriend.]

Judy hummed in the affirmative, "There isn't a time when I say I met a nice guy that they don't start planning my wedding. Not to mention all the not-so-subtle hints at bucks I might want to date from my parents. Since I joined the academy, they've latched to the idea that if I get a boyfriend I would settle down and not want to be a cop anymore. It's annoying."

"I assume your family doesn't like your job?" asked Nick almost rhetorically.

Judy sighed, "They're just worried for me mostly, but sometimes they take it a little too far. The first day, after I had my run in with you, they called me to know how it went. When my father learned I was on parking duty, he started chanting 'meter maid' and thanking the Lord, which was _not_ the morale booster I needed."

Nick's ear perked halfway through the recounting, "Wait... That was your first day? Jeez Carrots, I'm sorry, I wouldn't have gone so hard on you if I knew," said the fox, thinking back on their first meeting. His inner voice chimed in immediately. ' _You know damn well that's a lie, and she probably does too, you idiot._ '

Judy looked pensive for a moment, eyes straight ahead but clearly lost in her thoughts. "Don't be," she finally said in a soft tone, sparing a short glance towards Nick.

His brows shot up and he tilted his head in confusion, waiting for Judy to provide some sort of explanation. Catching the inquisitive stare she continued, "Even if extremely rude and mocking," she said while giving Nick a mild glare, which he completely ignored, "You were right. I _was_ naive and I _did_ think that Zootopia was some heaven-on-earth where everybody got along. I had this dream-like vision of the world outside the burrow, and it blinded me to a degree. Even to my own prejudice. So, while I could've done with a more gentle one, I really needed that reality check. Thank you," she finished with a smile on her muzzle eyeing Nick, before returning her gaze to the road ahead.

NIck was lost for words. This bunny continued to open herself so completely to him, without any reservation, that it threw him for a loop. The fox wasn't used to mammals trusting him like this, and didn't know how to deal with it. So he did what he knew best, deflecting any emotional situation with comedy. "Okay, now I'm sure the doctors missed something. You just thanked me for insulting you Carrots, normal mammals don't do that."

Judy looked annoyed for a second only, before a grin split her maw, "You're right, no sane mammal would be friends with _you_ , I must be mental!" she said with a teasing tone that made Nick proud.

"Ouch. She got a bite to her I see. Sly bunny," he said with a smirk of his own.

"Dumb fox," was the almost prepared answer.

The rest of the trip was spent between friendly banter and more horrible singing, but Nick didn't mind.

The Hopps household was a frenzy of activity. Kits were running and screaming with laughter, teenagers were watching television or reading, and adults were mending the fields or helping with house chores. In the middle of it all stood Bonnie Hopps, a cheery expression on her face. Most mammals would feel intimidated by the number of rabbits around them, but not Bonnie, she was right in her element. While dealing with the initial preparation for lunch, she kept a watchful eye on the kits playing outside, and doled out orders to her older children to help where needed.

Mammals were always amazed when they first heard just how big her family was, and how efficiently she managed to run it, even other rabbits. Contrary to popular belief, rabbit families averaged around 20 members tops. While still a large number compared to other species, it wasn't anywhere near the rumors around them. The Hopps family was one of the last 7 big families in the burrow, and it was a reason to be proud for Bonnie and Stu. When asked about how they do it, they always give the same answer; We were born for it, even though it wasn't the whole story.

Truth be told, when they talked to Judy all those years ago after her play at the Carrots Days Festival, they weren't lying about settling. Before inheriting his father's farm, Stu Hopps was on his way to become a Major League Baseball player, and Bonnie Leapson was studying to become a teacher. They met during the first year of college, and instantly fell in love. It was something out of a fairy tale, and they basked in the warmth their relationship, while still pursuing their dreams. As fate would have it however, Bonnie found out she was pregnant at the beginning of the second semester at the young age of 19.

Initially she was ecstatic. She was about to start a family with the buck she loved, and couldn't wait to share the news with everyone. However when both their family found out she was bearing kits the story changed dramatically. Stu's family was pressuring him to work on the farm to maintain his soon-to-be kits and mate instead of relying on getting picked by a team before the doe gave birth, while Bonnie's family was pressuring her to drop her studies and focus on raising her kits. Their wedding was arranged before either could blink, and they soon found themselves being at a loss.

The night before the wedding, they snuck out of their respective households to meet each other at the local park, their favourite place for dating, and discussed what to do with their lives. It was a long and emotional talk, but at the end they decided to settle and pour their souls into raising their kits. Turns out they were naturals.

When their first litter of six finally arrived, they had already figured out how to live their new lives. Having spent most of his kithood helping in the fields, Stu found himself comfortable at the head of the workforce that his family compounded and discovered he had a knack for everything farming. Bonnie on the other paw fell in the role of a doting mother very easily, her desire to work with kits helping her in her endeavour. Sooner than later, the couple found themselves wanting more kits to fill up the house, and both agreed that they could easily support a few more mouths to feed. Rinse and repeat until the present day.

Now, 30 years and 312 kits later, Bonnie Hopps was content with her life and very worried about that of her children. She obviously wanted the best for them, but she fretted that they couldn't understand what the best actually was. Everybody has dreams, it's normal and she understood that but she also understood that dreams not always can become realities, and it could be devastating if you didn't realise this before real life came crashing onto you.

Her biggest cause of worry was Judy. She had been a trier from the moment she learned how to walk, and since she got it in her head that she wanted to become a cop, there hasn't been a force in heaven or earth that had been able to stop her. Bonnie was extremely proud of her, but also deadly terrified. The life she chose for herself wasn't suited for a bunny, it was meant for predators, or prey bigger than their car and she dived head first into it like she did for everything. When she came back home three months ago, Bonnie was saddened to see Judy so heartbroken but had hoped that she understood the career she chose was too much even for such a driven bunny like her.

Once again however, the older doe seemed to have underestimated her daughter, because after spouting some nonsense about wolves she was off like a shot towards Zootopia, where she almost got killed. Bonnie could swear that the hours between watching the news and finally talking to Judy were the most stressful in her life. Not happy with only giving her parents the scare of their life, she went ahead and moved in with a guy whose name was the only thing they knew about him. Honestly, it almost seemed like Judy was _trying_ to make them worry as much as possible. Luckily she was coming back home, so Bonnie may be able to talk some sense into her head.

Speak of the devil, raising her eyes from the potatoes she was chopping to make french fries, she spotted the family truck coming down the driveway. Quickly wiping her paws on a kitchen towel, Bonnie made her way to the front porch to welcome her daughter home. As soon as she opened the front door, the couple in the truck stepped out and she froze, staring at them with wide eyes.

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers."

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

One bunny eye twitched, and minute paws tightened their grip on the steering wheel. If there ever was a time when Judy Hopps truly wanted to murder Nick Wilde, it was now. After they crossed the borders of Bunnyburrow, he started asking the same question every thirty seconds on the dot. The first two times she answered him, saying that they were almost at their destination and that it would take only a couple more minutes, the third time she told him to stop and by the fourth she was starting to get annoyed. _Now_ she was mentally going over all the spots where she could bury his corpse without being caught. ' _Don't give in Judy, he's doing it on purpose to get a rise out of you. Don't give him the satisfaction._ '

"Are we there yet?"

Another eye twitch was accompanied with a sharp inhale from the rabbit. She could throttle him. Yeah, that sounded nice right about now. She would also get the added bonus of watching the life slipping from his eyes if she were to do it.

That gave pause to Judy. With a quick shake of her head she questioned where _that_ came from, and her eyes caught sight of the fence surrounding her family's property. They were almost there, any second now the gate to the driveway would appear and Nick would st-

"Are we there yet?"

" _ **YES!**_ " she roared with all the might she had, blowing out all the pent up frustration towards the infuriating fox. "Yes, we're here," she said way more calmly while slowing down the truck and turning into the driveway. She turned to glare at him, and found him backed up to the truck's door, one paw on his chest and the other splayed out on the window. Eyes wide and ears pinned on his head, it was almost the spitting image of the time the savage tiger in Cliffside Asylum rushed the glass door, scaring the dickens out of him.

It lasted for less than a second though, his features smoothing out in a look of unrivaled smugness, and with half lidded eyes he said, "No need to get so strung up about it! It was only a question, Carrots."

Judy slammed on the breaks and let out a blood curdling shriek, jumping at him with murderous intent written all over her face. Luckily for Nick, the seat belt kept her in place and after a slight struggle with it, she gave up and smacked her head on the steering wheel with a loud groan. "I really hate you."

"No you don't. As a matter of fact, no one does."

"You're snarky, smug, insufferable, narcissistic, self-centered and a huge pain in the tail all around. I'm sure everybody loves you," said Judy in the most deadpan tone she could achieve.

"Ouch. If my ego wasn't so big, that could've actually hurt my feelings Fluff," responded Nick with a smirk.

Judy snorted, "You're unbelievable Slick." She sighed and unbuckled her seat belt, "Come on, time to face the music," she said before sliding off her seat and out of the truck, Nick following her right after.

Judy looked to her left towards the yard in front of her house where a small number of kits were playing, then to her right towards the fields where the most of her family was working. A small feeling of happiness grew inside her chest. No matter how far she would go or how long she would stay away, this would always be her home.

Meanwhile, Nick was busy picking his jaw off the ground. He didn't get a chance to properly look at the house when they were driving towards it, too preoccupied with the heart attack Judy gave him. Now that he did however, he was seriously considering becoming a farmer himself. Standing four stories tall and stretching for a good 75 yards across, the yellow painted brick and wood house with an american gothic roof looked more like a millionaire's mansion rather than a carrot farmer's house to Nick. Glancing to his right, the fox's jaw fell right back on the ground. A seemingly endless sea of bunnies was working on field upon field of almost every vegetable one could think of, for as far as the eye could see.

Snapping out of his initial shock, Nick turned towards Judy. "Wow Carrots, if I knew you were filthy rich I would've hustled way more that just a jumbo-pop out of you. How many rabbits does your father need to hire to run this place?"

Judy turned towards him and arched an eyebrow, "First off, I'm not 'filthy rich'. We eat most of what we produce on the farm, and we sell whatever is left at the farmer's market and at our family's stand. Mind you, it's still a considerable profit but with a family as big as mine saving money is as hard as drawing blood from a beetroot. Second off, this is a family run farm. My father doesn't need to hire anyone."

Nick looked back blankly, waiting for Judy to start laughing and telling him she was joking. After she just stared back, a look of worry started to appear on his face. "You're kidding right? You would need to have at least 100 rabbits in your family to run this big of a farm on your own!"

"312 actually!" She piped right back with a cheer in her voice that deeply disturbed Nick. "But that's only me and my siblings. If I had to count all of my extended family, I'm sure it would be close to a thousand, but to be honest I sometimes struggle as is."

Nick looked extremely uncomfortable at that moment. "Could you run that by me again? I think I just heard you say you have over 300 _siblings_."

Judy smiled wryly. "I told you Slick, we rabbits are good at multiplying," she said, driving the point home with a wink at the end.

Nick's face was a picture. All kinds of emotions were playing across it, and Judy was having a hard time suppressing the laughter building inside her. After nearly ten seconds of pure confusion and emotional turmoil, Nick asked, "How's your mother still alive?"

That did her in, Judy almost collapsed, holding her belly and bellowing a full gut laugh, while Nick was still staring at her with a very bewildered expression on his face. Her mirth _did_ bring an almost imperceptible smirk on his muzzle though. It also had the effect of alerting the small gaggle of kits playing on the front yard of their presence. After a collective scream of 'Judy!', the dozen or so young rabbits were on her, asking questions and almost piling her on the ground.

"Is it true that you died?"

"Did you really lose a leg?"

"I heard that you fought an evil sheep to the death!"

There was a small gasp, and from somewhere into the pile of fluff that was clung on her a soft voice asked, "Are you going to jail Aunt Judy?"

Judy looked down at all the kits dangling from her legs and waist, and despite the somewhat unsettling questions, she couldn't help the smile that grew on her muzzle. Leave it to the imagination of children, and even the most mundane of acts can become an epic battle. Not that what she did was mundane in any way.

"Okay! Okay, calm down you rascals," she said with mirth in her tone, "No, I'm not going to jail. No, I did not fight anyone to the death. No, I didn't lose my leg, since your dangling from it, and no, I definitely did _not_ die." ' _Even if only by some miracle,_ ' she thought to herself. Judy glanced to her right to look at Nick, but she found only air.

Suddenly worried that the prospect of meeting so many bunnies might have scared him into running off on his own, she spun towards the back of the truck and found him there, reaching into the truck bed. When he retrieved what he was looking for, he glanced up at her and she frowned. "Forgetting something, Carrots?" he asked with his usual smug expression.

"I don't need it Nick," she protested, the frown still firmly in place.

The fox took a couple of steps forward, twirling the cane in his paws as he went, "Doc Beaver said otherwise. 'At least for a week' if I recall correctly," he said, before he stopped twirling the simple brown cane and offered it to her.

She snatched it out of his paw, mumbling something about "dumb foxes" and minding their own business. He smirked at her cute pouting face, then glanced downwards, where he found all of the kits staring at him. Eleven sets of wide eyes, alert ears and twitching noses were directed at him with a such an unwavering focus that it gave him pause. ' _That's not creepy_ at all _…_ '

Noticing where Nick was looking and seeing the slight discomfort in his eyes made Judy smile a devious smile. "Guys," she said to garner the attention of the kits, "this is my friend Nick. He's gonna visit the farm today. Why don't you give him some of the famous Hopps' hospitality?"

All eleven heads snapped to Judy, then back to Nick. There was a beat of silence before, "Get' em." In less than a blink of the eye, Nick was drowning in a sea of fluff, with kits crawling all over him, hugging and tugging on every inch of fur they could find. His tail and ears were the focus of most of their attention, and all the poor fox could do was struggle on the grass while those little ball of fur went to town on him, begging Judy for help .

Too bad she was preoccupied laughing her tail off at the display to pay his pleas any mind. Turns out she actually needed the cane, if only to cling on it and not roll on the ground. When they started tickling him, and Nick started convulsing trying to escape to no avail, she was sure she was going to die of oxygen deprivation.

She was so caught up on laughing her heart out, that she didn't notice the small footsteps of her mother behind her. "Hey Jude," she softly said, more than a little concern in her voice.

Hearing the voice of her mother had Judy spin around to face her, and before either could speak a word, she dove in and hugged her fiercely. The older doe hugged back, her worries momentarily forgotten, replaced by the instinctual need to love her child. Even if they've been apart for not even a week, all that happened on her first day away from the farm made it seem like years. Having her back safely at home made Bonnie feel 10 years younger.

Breaking the embrace, Judy leaned back and said, "Hi Mom. I missed you." Even if their last conversation wasn't the most amiable they ever had, Judy still loved her mom, and she wasn't lying when she said she'd missed her.

Bonnie looked Judy from head to toe, checking to see if she was truly as 'fine' as she claimed to be in her call. The first thing she noticed were her clothes, brand new and modern. They were put out of her thoughts almost immediately however, when she spotted the cane Judy kept hanging on her elbow. "Oh my goodness, Judy are you okay? Do you need to sit down? Will you walk normally again?"

Judy shook her head at the questions and the worried tone her mother used. "Mom I'm fine, seriously. I don't really need this thing," she nodded at the cane, "but _someone_ is a bit overzealous," she said with another nod, this time towards Nick.

Bonnie visibly deflated, and tensed up again almost simultaneously, "Speaking of… Should we help him?" Both does turned to the bundle of bunny kits swarming the poor fox. A single red and black arm stretched towards the sky, as if reaching for it, before falling limp on the side. Judy rolled her eyes at the display, before steeping close and shooing off the small bunnies.

"Alright, that's enough guys! I think he gets it, why don't you go fetch Dad for me?" One by one, the kits stood up and wandered towards the fields, all the while whispering among themselves, "Did you see those teeth?"

"His paws are so big!"

"And his tail?! It's way more fluffier than Mr. Gideon's!"

Judy chuckled at their antics before focusing once again on Nick, who was still on the ground with his eyes wide open and unblinking, staring into nothing. She crouched down at his side and snapped two fingers in front of him, "Still with us, Slick?"

Nick slowly turned his head, facing her with his eyes still wide and a distressed expression on his muzzle, "I've seen the face of God, and she was weeping."

Judy let out a small snort and pushed Nick's muzzle away, "Get up and stop being so dramatic you big oaf!" The fox chuckled, before sitting up and brushing his paws on his clothes to straighten them a little.

"Five minutes since we arrived and I've already been assaulted by your family," he said with a smirk, "Not the greatest of first impressions Carrots."

Judy was about to rebuke when a third voice came into play, "What did you just call her?"

Bonnie Hopps was staring right through Nick's soul in that moment, with an expression mixed between horror and righteous fury. He couldn't remember a time he was more scared of a smaller prey in his life. ' _Speaking of bad first impressions…_ '

Mercifully Judy stepped in for him, "Mom calm down. It's just a nickname-"

"A very _offensive_ nickname," her mother interrupted.

"Yes, it was initially, but he doesn't mean anything by it anymore," she stopped and turned to stare at the fox with the same fury her mother was portraying, "right, Nick?"

Now, you have to understand that foxes are one of the most intelligent species in the world. They are capable of thinking and acting almost simultaneously, and this fox in particular had been able to get out of tricky situations using nothing but his wits. He had a plethora of comebacks and funny rebukes at the ready in his mind at all times. However, sometimes even the most intelligent mammals rely on instincts to survive, if the situation is dire enough.

This was one such occasion. He was ready to respond, when something finally clicked in his head. With two does staring at him with such murderous intention, his instincts screamed at him to be very still and not do anything stupid. That included coming up with a punny one-liner or anything else that was typically his style. Instead, Nick simply nodded and splayed his ears on his head, trying to come off as non-threatening as possible.

Judy smirked at the display, "You're not as dumb as you look Wilde." Nick let out an uncomfortable chuckle and they both got up on their feet. "Mom, this is Nicholas Wilde. Nick, this is my mother, Bonnie Hopps."

Nick took a step forward and offered his paw in greeting, "Nice to meet you, ma'am," he said with his most winning smile that didn't show any teeth.

Bonnie looked him up and down and without moving an inch just said, "So you're the guy that my daughter is staying with." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Not a happy one either.

Nick withdrew his paw and brought it behind his back to join the other one. HIs left ear flicked once, but he didn't lose his calm and friendly expression. "Yes ma'am. I offered to house Ca- Judy for a couple of days until she can get back on her feet."

The doe narrowed her eyes, "And what exactly do you hope to gain from doing that?"

Judy was mortified and infuriated at the same time. What the hell was wrong with her mother? Nick didn't have the time to introduce himself that she was already treating him like a criminal. A small nagging voice in her head reminded her that she didn't even _let him_ introduce himself before she assumed he was up to no good the first time she met the fox, but she silenced it immediately and moved to give her mother a piece of her mind.

Nick beat her to it however, "Hopefully a little bit of her trust and friendship. She already showed a great amount of both, but that was in a stressful situation where not doing so would have led to disastrous results. I hope that with this, she'll understand that her trust wasn't misplaced." He delivered the speech with a very serious expression and tone.

Both rabbits stared at him with wide eyes full of surprise.

Bonnie was caught off guard by the openness he spoke with. If he was lying, she couldn't see it and it troubled her greatly.

Judy on the other paw was positive that Nick was sincere with what he said, and the very fact that he _did_ say it shocked her. He had been very elusive whenever a slightly more serious or sensitive topic was brought up during her short stay with him, always diverting the conversation with comedy or straight up changing the subject. Here instead he spoke openly and sincerely. This must have been very important to him for some reason, and she couldn't understand why.

Finally, the older doe recomposed herself, "Very well then, the only thing left for me to say is: Welcome to our home, Mr. Wilde," said Bonnie, with a much gentler tone.

Nick bowed his head slightly and said, "Thank you Mrs. Hopps, and you can call me Nick." Bonnie smiled politely in recognition but didn't say anything. The fox knew that Judy's parents would've been a little put off by his species, and would likely be on the fence with him, but he didn't expect this level of coldness from either of them. ' _This is going to be a very interesting day_ ', he thought to himself.

Bonnie was about to invite them inside, when a shout from their right, "Jude the Dude! You're here!" Stu Hopps was jogging towards them with a big grin on his face and his arms wide open.

Judy turned to him and opened her arms just as wide, accepting the smoldering fatherly hug with pleasure. She missed him just as much as she missed her mom. "Hi Dad! Yes I'm here." The two embraced for a long moment before Judy pulled away and turned them towards Nick, "Dad I'd like you to meet Nick Wilde, the friend I told you about that helped me solve the case. Nick, this is my father, Stu Hopps."

Once again, Nick took a step forward and offered his paw to shake, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hopps," and once again no one took his paw.

Stu stood stock still and stared at Nick with wide eyes, "F-Fo... Fo-Fo… F-FOX!" he exclaimed, right before his wide eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fainted on the spot. Bonnie put a paw to her forehead, muttering something along the lines of "not again", while Judy just stared at the buck with an expression that screamed "Really?".

Nick chuckled and whispered to the young bunny next to him, "Two for two. I really think your parents love me already Carrots."

Judy sighed and rubbed her temples sensing a headache coming, ' _This is going to be a very long day…_ '

* * *

 **A/N: So this chapter was a long time coming, wasn't it? And to top it off, it's really boring too! What an awesome writer I am. In all seriousness tho, I had a very shitty couple of months. I won't delve into too many details, but life pretty much conspired against me and threw everything she had at me all at once. And to add insult to injury, I had a very severe Depression™ attack that basically wrecked me inside and out. Feel a little better now tho. As always any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated!**

 **Now to take another 4 months to write next chapter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Calm Before The Storm

**A/N: Yay! I didn't take 4 months to write this one! Go me!**

* * *

When Stu regained consciousness, the world around him was a blur. He took a second to remember where he was and why he was there. He remembered hugging Judy, then nothing else.

"Are you alright Dad?" Judy asked. There she was! She was standing on his left, looking down at him with an expression mixed between pained and embarrassed. The buck frowned. Why would she be embarrassed? Then it hit him, Judy had brought along her friend Nick, the one who helped her save the city! Her friend who happened to be a fox. Stu shook his head and shakily got on his feet.

"Yeah I'm fine," he said standing up, before turning towards Nick, "Sorry for that, I swear that almost never happens!"

"Don't worry Mr. Hopps. It's been quite a while since someone had this big of a reaction meeting me!" Nick said with a grin. His eyes were full of mirth and he genuinely didn't seem offended, more like amused. Stu only gave a very awkward laugh and looked around him to the two does clearly looking for support.

Luckily for him, Bonnie had had quite enough of this, "Okay, how about we go inside before my husband embarrasses us more?"

Stu nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah what she said!" This earned a snort from both Nick and Judy, before the bunnies turned towards the entrance.

Nick turned towards the truck and said, "Let me just grab my bag." Since Judy didn't have any clothes in Zootopia apart from the ones she bought with Nick a couple of days prior, she didn't need a bag, so the fox simply packed the outfit she would have to wear the next day in his and he would just give it to her. Quickly reaching into the bed of the truck he retrieved the duffle bag he prepared the night before and trotted back to the group, giving the stink eye to Judy. "That cane isn't a fashion statement Ca- _Judy_ , you're supposed to _use_ it." Bonnie's ear twitched at his almost use of the dreaded nickname, but she didn't otherwise react.

Judy rolled her eyes and frowned at him. The fox scowled right back. Seeing this was getting her nowhere, she gave up and started using it correctly, putting some of her weight on it every time she used her right leg. Now sporting an approving smirk, he fell right into step behind her and they both approached the house.

If the fox thought that the exterior of the house was impressive, the interior was just as much. As the crossed the entrance, his attention was immediately drawn to his right where a huge archway that led into what was probably the biggest living room he ever saw. An unreasonably big T.V. was hanging from the left wall, three couches that could comfortably sit four wolves each were surrounding it a couple of feet away from the wall. On the wall opposite were three big windows that let natural light flow in. Another three couches were facing them. At the end of the room there was another door, but Nick couldn't say where it led. At least 20 rabbits were milling around the room, but only a pawful gave him more than a passing glance, which Nick was thankful for. If the reactions from Judy's parents were anything to go by, this could be a very long two days. Not to say that he didn't get a couple of nasty stares, but he managed to ignore them easily enough.

Further down the house, a short hallway led to two flights of stairs, one leading up and one leading down. Two doors sat opposite of each other embedded in the walls.

On his left, there was yet another closed door, but if the smell was any indication, behind it, there was the kitchen. Nick sniffed the air a bit, but couldn't determine exactly what was cooking. Only that it smelled delicious. The entire left wall from the entrance to the stairs was covered in a cream colored and carrot patterned wallpaper that was in turn covered by any and all kind of family portrait one could imagine and some framed kits' drawings.

Stu piped up after they all got in, "Well, it's still a couple of hours before lunch, how about I show you to your room Nick, and then I give a quick tour of the farm? And Jude, you can help your mother in the kitchen!" he said with a big grin.

This earned him a very levelled stare from Judy and a raised eyebrow from Nick, "What's that supposed to mean?" Stu's ears collapsed. He knew that tone. It was the one she used when he did or say something _bad_. If you asked him, he was getting better at this whole "sexism" thing she continuously raved about, but sometimes he still made a faux pas here and there. Whenever he did, he was sure to get an earful about it from the most "modern" girls in the house.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "He didn't mean whatever it is you think he meant, Judy. Don't give your father a hard time." She understood why it was so dear to her to be treated with respect, but sometimes her daughter took it a little too far.

For peace's sake, she let it go, but not before giving one more warning glare to her father which made the buck wilt a bit. Seeing this, Nick took pity on the poor soul, "So, that room you were talking about, Mr. Hopps?" The amount of gratitude on the buck's face couldn't be described, and it made Nick stifle a giggle.

"Yes! The room! This way!" said Stu way more excitedly than necessary, and all but dragged Nick towards the stairs. As they moved along the hallway, Nick was able to get a glance through the door on his right and make out a big library. Going up the surprisingly plain but definitely sturdy stairs, they reached the first floor.

Both on his left and on his right the only thing he could see were doors. They were roughly one and a half meters from each other and every door had a little plaque on it. Any space on the walls not occupied by a door was covered in the same wallpaper from downstairs. Going once more, they got to the third floor which was a mirror of the second.

This time Stu went down the hallway to the left, so Nick had time to take in a little more detail. He counted 25 doors to his right and 23 to his left. Each entry had a small plaque with a name on it, and they seemed to progress in alphabetical order more or less.

Nearing the end of the hallway, Stu stopped in front of the second to the last door. The plaque on the door read "Justin."

"Here we are! You'll be stayin' in Justin's room since he's in Deerbrook visiting a friend. It's.. not exactly fox-sized… Hope you don't mind," explained Stu, opening the door. To say that the room was cramped would be an understatement. On his right sat a wardrobe that took up most of the space on the wall, followed by a small desk. At the end of the room was a rabbit-sized bed with blue cloud patterned sheets. The left room was bare of the carrot themed wallpaper and instead was covered with posters of famous metal bands that reminded Nick of his rebellious streak as a teenager. He was sure he still had his ripped jeans somewhere.

Placing his bag at the side of the bed, Nick turned around to face Stu, who had "anxious" written all over his face. "Is something the matter?" he asked.

Eyes snapping up to meet his, Stu wriggled his paws for a second, before taking a steeling breath. "I just wanted to say… Thank you, for helping our little girl," he said with a sincerely apologetic look of on his face. "I know I haven't made the best of first impressions," he raised a paw to stop Nick when he saw he was moving to protest, "Let me finish. I know that fainting as soon as I saw you probably painted me as 'yet another rabbit that is afraid of predators', and while I can't rightly say that I'm not, after seeing what Judy did for Zootopia, I'm trying to better myself."

Nick was slightly taken aback. He didn't expect this impromptu heart to heart, and he honestly didn't know how to react. He just stood there, a very awkward look on his face. Seeing Nick not really responding, Stu decided to share some more, "A couple of months back we started a partnership with a predator, another fox actually, which was something my family never did before exactly because of fear. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we made in the last decade," he said with a mixture of pride and astonishment in his tone.

"So please believe when I say that I have no problems with you being a fox, as long as Judy doesn't have one. And I'm really glad that she has someone she can count on in the city."

If he was taken aback before, now he was completely blown away. Apparently being open and honest with your feelings ran in the family. Nick didn't need to live 20 years as a conmammal and learn how to read people to hear the sincerity in the buck's voice. Completely unbidden, a genuine smile crept on his muzzle. ' _Maybe this trip isn't gonna be as bad as I feared._ '

"Besides, with you being a fox, I'm sure you know all the shadiest places in town and can keep her away from them! That's definitely a good thing!"

' _Aaaaannnd we're back._ ' Nick couldn't repress a snort of amusement. This rabbit meant well, but he seriously had to work on his delivery. His usual smug grin came back, "I will make sure to do just that. Now, you said something about a tour of the farm?"

Stu eagerly nodded, "Right. Farm tour. Follow me, boy, I'm about to show where the magic happens."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the atmosphere wasn't as jovial as in Justin's room. There was a terse silence between the two bunnies occupying the room, which was a very rare occurrence. Both the silence and there being only two bunnies. The kitchen was massive, to say the least. Six stovetops were lined on the left from the door, all with an oven right under them, followed by as many sinks. Perpendicular to those was a countertop that ran almost all the length of the room. Behind that were rows upon rows of shelves filled with conserves and food in general. On the farthest wall from the door was what could only be called a refrigerating cell by how massive it was, that stored all the perishable food the family had.

So when Bonnie and Judy moved to the kitchen, the latter was a little put off by seeing it devoid of any other rabbit. She couldn't remember more than two more times the room wasn't filled with family members either looking for a quick snack or helping with whatever meal was being prepared.

It didn't help any when the only thing her mother said since they got in was "Finish chopping the potatoes, please. I'll work on the rice." And so, for the past 20 minutes or so, the only sounds in the kitchen were Judy's knife hitting the chopping board, and Bonnie's ladle stirring in the pot.

They stood opposite of each other, their backs turned. For her part, while uncomfortable, Judy had no intention to break the silence. She was still miffed with her mother about how she treated Nick right off the bat. She understood that both her parents were very protective of their kits and that they worried to no end even for the smallest of things, but there was absolutely no reason for her to be so rude to him. Not even after he called her "Carrots". Besides, it wasn't even her place to get offended for that, to begin with. She was fine with it, and that's all that mattered.

"So… Your friend seems… Nice." Judy was so enthralled in her thoughts that she almost missed her mother speaking up. The underlying tone of sarcasm wasn't even concealed, and it pricked Judy, but she didn't rise to the bait.

"He is," she replied in monotone.

"I wouldn't think it to be possible for you two to be so close, given the difference," her mother pointed out, almost casually. Almost.

"Difference?" asked Judy innocently, still cutting away. ' _If you want to act like a bigot, you have to own up to it._ '

"You know what I mean."

Judy gripped the knife a little harder. "No actually, I don't."

"Don't play dumb with me, Judy," Bonnie shot back in a clipped tone.

With a loud last chop, Judy put her knife down and turned to her mother. "And you don't play innocent with me, Mom. If you want to be speciest, then have the guts to actually _say it_."

Bonnie stopped stirring the rice and turned to her daughter with fury in her eyes, "Judith Laverne Hopps!" Judy winced. The full name. Whenever her mother used it, she was in real trouble. She still held her ground however, knowing to be in the right. "First of all, don't use that tone with me, missy. I don't care how old you are, I'm still your mother. And second of all, I'm just worried about you!"

Judy scoffed loudly, "What do you think he's gonna do? Eat me?"

"No of course not, but he still is a predator. A fox. He could still hurt you Judy, you can't just trust him like that."

Judy couldn't believe her ears. Her mother knew that Nick had helped her with Bellwether. He told her that she trusted her life on him before, and now she was pulling this crap just because he was a fox?! It was her turn to have fury burning behind her eyes.

Before she could retort however, the door to the kitchen opened, and in walked one of her brothers. "Mom, have you seen- Jude! You're here! I've been looking for you all around the house!" the brown buck with white accents on his muzzle and paws lumbered towards her with open arms, clearly missing the tense air in the room. The hug was almost bone crushing, as custom with the Hopps family.

"Hey Jeffy," greeted Judy, her voice muffled by the buck's chest. She was tall by bunny standards, but Jeffy was almost a freak, being a head taller than her not including the ears.

Pulling back from the hug, but still holding her by the shoulders, Joffrey "Jeff" Hopps looked Judy from head to toes. "Considering the horror stories going around, you don't look half bad sis! I thought that at the very least you were missing limb and an eye. Y'know, going for that pirate aesthetic," the buck joked, managing to get a smile from Judy even with how angry she was with her mother at that moment. Being littermates, they obviously had a connection between them stronger than with their other siblings, but even then, the two had been almost inseparable growing up. Thus, they always knew how to cheer each other up, or just how to crack the other up with a well-placed joke.

Judy smirked and decided to play along with her brother, "No, the pirate life isn't for me. However," she said as she reached for the cane that she placed next to her leaning on the counter, "If you get me an overcoat and a top hat, I could totally rock the 1880's gentlemammal look."

Even with the laugh coming from him, she could still see the worry in his eyes. When he opened his mouth to ask just how injured she was, Judy beat him to it, "I'm fine Jeffy, just a scratch on the leg. I'm only using this thing to humor Nick."

A glint sparked in the buck's eyes, "Speaking of which, where is he? It's my duty as your brother to grill your boyfriend now, isn't it?" he said with a grin that dangerously resembled the one of the "boyfriend" in question.

Both does in the room visibly tensed up and looked at him with wide eyes, which made him raise his eyebrows. "He's not my boyfriend!" squeaked Judy, clearly embarrassed. Behind him, Bonnie looked like she almost had a heart attack.

Now, Jeff wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but even he knew that this wasn't normal. Usually, he would just get a rude gesture from Judy, and a scoff from his mother. So with an intrigued look on his face, he asked, "What's with the reaction Jude? Normally when we grill you about some buck, you just tell us off."

Judy bristled for a second and looked to the side. Now Jeff was _really_ curious. They were hiding something, and he _needed_ to know. Sensing his searching gaze, Judy looked at him again and tentatively offered, "He's not a buck."

Joffrey just raised his eyebrows again, "Beg your pardon?"

Judy sighed in defeat, "He's a fox," she finally explained.

The buck froze, a stony look on his face. His brain was clearly processing the new information and was having problems decrypting it. Then a shiver ran through his spine, and his eye twitched. Seeing this, Judy knew exactly what was about to happen, so she facepawed and braced for the incoming barrage.

Not a second later, the loudest most boisterous laughter possible for a rabbit echoed through the kitchen.

Jeffy was clutching his midriff and laughing his heart out, tears streaming down his face, while his mother was shaking her head in disapproval and Judy was just mildly glaring at him. After almost a full minute of nonstop laughter, the buck finally took in a breath and started calming down. Wiping a tear from his eye and chuckling one last time, he finally managed to compose himself. "Holy crap, you can't make this stuff up. Not only does Jude the Dude finally bring a guy home, but he's a freaking FOX!" Another laugh escaped him, "Where is he? I've _got_ to meet him!"

Judy rolled her eyes, her ears falling down in annoyance, "How many times do I have to say that he's not my boyfriend?"

Jeff waved a paw in front of her to dismiss her complaints, "Yeah yeah, whatever. Where is he?" he insisted.

The doe sighed, "Dad's giving him the tour to the farm, so somewhere out in the fields I'd say."

"Got it. Let's go!" Before she could respond, Jeff took her by the wrist and all but dragged her to the door. She barely managed to hold on to her cane.

"Hey! Joffrey we-" Bonnie tried to protest, but the buck cut her off, already halfway through the door.

"Sure Mom, I'll take care of it later!" And with that, Bonnie was alone in the kitchen. A very frustrated sigh escaped her. She had half a mind to chase down her children but ultimately gave up. When Jeff was this excited about something, there was no stopping him. Dejectedly turning back to the stovetop where an absurd amount of rice was cooking, she was left worrying about her most headstrong daughter, and on how to make her realise the mistake she was making.

* * *

"And this is Lorain, the latest addition to our farm! A brand new John Deer S650 combine harvester!" proclaimed Stu with obvious pride in his voice, "Let me tell you, this gal ain't cheap, but she's worth every penny!"

Nick was too shocked to give any response that wasn't a nod. Standing in front of him was he could only describe as a lawnmower on steroids, bigger than his first apartment.

The tour of the farm started small, with Stu showing Nick some of the crop fields and explaining how farming worked. Having grown up in the city, it was all a novelty to the fox, and he listened attentively, being very interested in learning something new. He always was. It was something he discovered helped him in his line of work, being as knowledgeable as possible about a multitude of topics. But when the buck moved on from the topic of crops and how to grow them and started showing him the machinery that was used on the farm and some of the small processing plants they had to work on their own produce, Nick was finding it a little more challenging to follow his ramblings. It started with the tractors and why did they need more than one model and size, and it ended up here. To say that he was lost would be selling it short.

They stood in the bigger of the two barns of the farm, where most of the heavy machinery was stored, and right under the green combine harvester, a few bunnies coming and going beside them. Most gave Nick only a passive glance, and when they saw he was with Stu, they just accepted it and moved on. Which is another thing that greatly surprised him. Pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless. He fully expected for the country bunnies to treat him as a "dangerous predator" and was prepared for it. What he wasn't prepared for was the almost unanimous indifference he got. Sure, a couple of rabbits still gave him the stink eye or scrunched their noses in disgust, but it wasn't anything significant in comparison with what he had to deal with in the city.

"Not something you see every day in the city, is it?" asked Stu, seeing Nick almost entranced by the machine.

Nick shook his head, "Definitely not. Bet mowing the lawn has never been easier," snarked the fox.

Stu smirked, "The lawn, the crops and everything in between. This beauty can harvest 4 bushels per second! She's the reason our farm has sold almost all its grain before anyone else in the burrows!" he said, satisfaction heavy in his tone. He clearly took pride in his work and in that of his family. "Whatever produce we didn't sell raw we milled and sold the flour to our partner, the one I was talking to you about earlier, and some other bakeries in the city."

Nick nodded, having understood maybe half of what the buck was talking about, and smiled a polite smile, hoping the buck wouldn't ask his opinion about it.

"Come on, next up is the distillery." This piqued Nick's interest.

"You make your own alcohol?"

"Yeah, but we don't sell it. It's just for our family and friends to enjoy after a long day's work. Not to toot my own horn, but we make the best blueberry moonshine in the tri-burrows!"

Nick's eyes zeroed in on the buck, and his ears swiveled towards him. "You had my interest, now you have my attention."

Stu let out a hearty laugh and turned towards the fields again, but before they could make more than a couple of paces, a voice reached the pair from behind them. "Dad! Dad wait!"

Turning back to the voice, both Nick and Stu saw a very tall buck sprinting towards them, dragging behind him a very discombobulated Judy. Seeing the doe again, even after only thirty minutes tops and in what was clearly a distressed state, filled Nick with relief for reasons unknown to him. He guessed that he was just happy to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar setting. Stu waved at them, and they waited for them to catch up.

Slowing down when they got closer, Judy was finally able to get back on her feet again rather than dangling behind her brother. She loved him dearly, but whenever he got excited about something, he always had the habit to just drag her around, and it drove her crazy. Giving a good glare to the back of Jeff's head, she finally focused on the mammals they were looking for. His father looked like his usual self, perky and with an aloof smile on his face, so that reassured her somewhat on how the tour was going. Moving her gaze to Nick, she saw him look right at her with his usual smug grin and half-closed eyes, his tail swishing placidly behind him. He seemed calm too, which made her really happy for reasons unknown to her. She guessed she was just relieved to see that her family wasn't overwhelming him. She made a small wave to him.

Nick only grinned harder, then moved his attention to the freakishly tall buck that came with her. He was barely shorter than him, reaching up to his chin if you didn't count the ears, and had a stockier build than Judy, making him look even bigger than he already was. If it wasn't for the fact that he had the same fur color and markings as Stu, and his muzzle wasn't the same length as a rabbit, he would've mistaken him for a hare.

"Hey guys! Wanted to join us for the tour?" asked Stu, before furrowing his eyebrows, "Wait Jude, weren't you helping your mother with lunch?"

Judy nodded, "I was, before-"

"So you must be the famous Nick," interrupted Jeff, who hadn't taken his eyes off of Nick for a second since they arrived.

Suddenly, every red light and alarm bell his life as a hustler had given him started ringing and decided to tread _very_ carefully. "That'd be me. And you are…?"

"Very excited," Jeff shot back without missing a beat, which got a raised eyebrow from Nick and a couple more bells ringing.

Judy rolled her eyes and tapped her brother on the arm. Nick was happy to discover that he wasn't the only one on the receiving end of that particular trait. "His name is Joffrey," said Judy with a reprimanding tone, "He's my littermate, and apparently he really wanted to meet you."

Jeff nodded absentmindedly, "What she said."

"Well Joffrey, nice to meet you," said Nick offering his paw, and for the first time that day someone actually shook it!

Jeff gave very strong pawshake and grinned madly, looking sideways to Judy for a second, before focusing entirely on Nick again. "Pleasure is all mine." Yet another red light.

Releasing Nick, Jeff clapped his paws together, "So Nick, I'm sorry to do this to you, but as Judy's older brother it is my duty to give the third degree to her new boyfriend." The bait was cast, now to wait for the bite.

Judy's reaction was exactly what he expected it to be. He ears went rigid, and she "eep'd," her body going stiff. Good. Moving his attention to Nick, he didn't find what he wanted. The fox was looking at Judy with a very amused smile and ears half-cocked. His father nearly going catatonic mumbling the word boyfriend over and over again eased the disappointment, if only slightly.

"I thought you said I didn't miss anything in our relationship last time I asked, Fluff," teased Nick.

' _A joke, but not an outright refusal. Very interesting…_ ' noted Jeff, before Judy finally snapped back into her senses.

"He's not my boyfriend!" squeaked Judy giving a well-aimed punch to Jeff shoulder that actually made him wince. "And you were born only 5 minutes before me, it doesn't count."

The buck rubbed his smarting arm giving her a glare, "7 minutes. And yes it does," Jeff clarified, to which Judy rolled her eyes. "Moving on, what is it you do for a living, Mr. Wilde?" he asked, assuming a tone resembling that of a reporter giving an interview.

Outside of his view, Judy went stiff again. This was a very loaded question, considering what Nick's line of work was. 'Holy carrots! If they find out Nick's a hustler this is going to end in disaster!'

Before she could run damage control, Nick opened his mouth and dread filled her. Straightening his posture a bit and putting his paws behind his back, Nick spoke with a very professional tone, "I'm an entrepreneur. My job consists in buying and selling goods, basically. Been doing it for 20 years. I've dabbled in almost everything, but lately, I work mostly with icy treats."

All the rabbits present were taken aback by his explanation. Stu and Jeff were pleasantly surprised to know another fox in the business of food other than Gideon, and were comforted in discovering he had a job in the first place!

Judy on the other paw was amazed by how easily Nick delivered his lie, and how believable it sounded. Although calling it a lie might not be correct. What he said was _technically_ true. Just the same as his hustling was _technically_ legal. She wondered just how many times he had to explain his job to other mammals without letting them know exactly what it was.

"Sounds fun," said Jeff with interest in his voice.

Nick shrugged, "It can get really repetitive, but it puts bread on the table."

The buck nodded noncommittally, while Judy looked at both Nick and her brother. She didn't know where this was going, but she was certain she wasn't going to like it. She could just feel it.

"Fair enough. So tell me, how did you end up stuck with this big eared nuisance?" asked Jeff while pointing to his sister with a thumb.

"Hey!" shouted Judy, "My ears perfectly fine! Yours are longer anyway."

"Doesn't make you any less of a nuisance," was the immediate response, and Nick already knew he was going to like this rabbit very much. Both males were looking at Judy with a very similar grin on their mouths. A grin that was silently challenging her to disagree, so that they could tell her every reason why she was wrong.

Seeing that she was outnumbered, she crossed her arms and glared at the both of them, her foot stomping a mile a minute, and once again Nick couldn't help but think that she was extremely cute when she was agitated. His still smarting arm reminded him to not voice his thoughts however.

Meanwhile, Stu was coming back to his senses finally, Nick explaining what he did for a job and Judy vehement denial of being in a relationship with the fox helping him come over the shock he fell into after Jeff joked about it.

Now that he was more or less in the present, the topic of how his daughter got tangled with a fox was very interesting to him, "But yeah, how did the two of you meet? Judy didn't tell us when we talked on the phone."

"I just didn't think it was important at the moment, what with the two of you freaking out about my job and then his sexual deviousness," said Judy. Apparently, she wasn't over the accusations yet. Nick arched an eyebrow and glanced at Stu, who was nervously fidgeting on the spot.

Nick chuckled, "Well, let me assure you that would never lay a finger on your daughter Mr. Hopps," assured Nick. For some reason the truthfulness in his voice stung Judy for a second, but she brushed it off quickly. "And as for how we met, long story short she needed some information for her investigation, and I wasn't really the most cooperative guy in the world, until she outfoxed me and basically backed me up into a corner to help her," he said with a smile. If he held any resentment over the blackmail deal, he didn't show, and it made Judy feel marginally better about it. Not that she ever felt too bad about it mind you, he was a jerk and very much deserved it for not paying his taxes in the first place, but after their friendship blossomed, she always had this nagging voice in the back of her head telling her that wasn't something friends did to one another.

"Outfoxed you?" asked Jeff, clearly intrigued by the possible untold story behind it.

"Let's just say that in my line of work, paying taxes is not your first concern. Your sister somehow got wind of that, managed to record me saying how much I earned and threatened me with jail time if I didn't collaborate with her," explained the fox eyeing Judy wryly.

Both Stu and Jeff seemed taken aback by this, eyes wide and ears alert, "She blackmailed you?" asked the younger buck.

Nick chuckled lightly, "Not exactly. You see, after the fact I decided to look up exactly what could happen to me if someone else came after me. And what do I find? The worst thing that could happen to me would be having the IRS on my tail. Not the ZPD. Because unless there is a warrant on my head, the police can't really do anything to me," he said while never taking off his eyes from Judy, the smile still on his muzzle.

She just smiled sweetly at him, and put her paws on her hips, "What was it you told me the first time we met?" she asked. Nick smile widened, and his ears swiveled behind him.

" _It's called a hustle, sweetheart!_ " they said in unison, before they both started laughing at their joke.

Jeff and Stu were a little lost, not really understanding what was so funny about it but didn't voice their confusion, watching the two mammals seemingly laughing at nothing. Stu was just relieved to see his little girl happy again. She had been inconsolable during the months she spent back at the farm. No matter what he did, he never managed to lift her spirits, and he hated himself for it. Now however, seeing his daughter laugh again made happiness swell up in his core too.

Jeff on the other paw was calmly studying the two. While he obviously was happy too to see his sister not mope around anymore, he was far more interested in her friendship with this fox. He didn't seem like a bad guy to him. At least not yet, it was too soon to say still. But he trusted her and her judgement, so if she thought he was fine, he probably was. No, what was interesting to him was how they both seemed so comfortable around each other after such a short period of time. He would have to keep a close eye on both of them during their stay, he decided.

After the laughter died down, Stu opened his mouth to talk, but was silenced by the small radio hanging on his overalls. "Dad, Mom says to come back to base! Lunch is ready!" the voice on the other end announced.

Stu picked it up, "Roger that, Tim. We'll be right over," he said before reattaching the radio on his clothes by the clip on the back of it. "Looks like our visit to the distillery will have to wait a little bit, Nick."

Judging by his reaction, you would think Stu just told him he had 2 weeks left to live. His ears were slicked to his head, his tail curled itself between his legs and the look on his face could only be described as distraught. This charade earned a chuckle from all the rabbits present.

"Don't worry boy, it will taste even better after a good meal," assured the buck before they all turned towards the house.

* * *

 **A/N: So again, this another kinda boring chapter, where nothing really happens yet for some reason there's a metric fuckton of dialogue. Originally this was going to be the last chapter taking place in BunnyBurrow, but considering the amount of time it took me to write only the first half, I decided to split it into 2, so that you guys wouldn't have to actually wait another 4 months for an update. As always any and all comments/reviews are greatly appreciated. Hope you liked it! Until next time.**


	7. Chapter 7 - We Need To Talk

Nick normally had no problems with big crowds. Knowing how to deal with mammals was part of his "job" after all, but when he entered the dining room and found close to one hundred rabbits turning their head to him, saying that he was nervous would be an understatement.

If it weren't for the heavenly smell coming from the adjacent kitchen and the fact that the stares stayed on him for less than a second, he would've turned tail and run home faster than you could blink.

Following Judy, Stu and Jeff having disappeared into the kitchen as soon as they entered the house, he ventured inside what he would honestly call a mess hall and not a dining room. Six very long tables were sitting at each side of the massive room, with younger rabbits taking place around them, while a table big enough that Nick would bet it was originally meant for elephants and they just cut the legs was sitting smack in the middle where all the older rabbits sat. Judy led him right to that one, and they sat somewhere in the middle of it. Rabbits were flanking Nick in every direction, and some of that nervousness was now starting to show through his façade of indifference. His left ear would flick once in a while and his tail, which would normally swish back and forth languidly, would now twitch erratically.

He felt like a fish out of water, everybody around him was chatting with someone, Judy included, and while he was normally very good at starting a conversation with a stranger (again part of his "job"), the fact that everybody in the room was a rabbit and he a fox plus the nervousness he was feeling made him clam up. Food wasn't served yet so he couldn't even use that as an excuse to say something. Therefore he was left to awkwardly sit there, trying very hard to keep his mask on and wait for the food. It was not an enjoyable situation for him.

"So you're the fox that Judy brought home, huh?" Luckily -or regrettably, depending on how you look at it- a rabbit doe sitting on his left piped up, prompting Nick to talk.

Turning his attention to her, he was met with a rabbit who didn't look a day older than 18 and was the spitting image of Stu if not for her eyes, green instead of brown, staring directly at him. "Sure am! Name's Nick, by the way."

Stare unwavering, the doe asked, "How do you know my sister?"

"I don't. She kidnapped my family and told me she would kill them if I didn't come here and act as her boyfriend," Nick said with just enough fear in his voice to make it sound believable.

The doe's ears slumped behind her head and her eyebrows scrunched together, her mouth slightly open to form the perfect picture of confusion. "...what?"

Nick leaned down a bit and whispered with urgency, "Call the cops!"

Noticing Nick talking with her sister, Judy decided to join in, "Hey guys! You two getting along?"

Nick just smiled at her, while her sister looked at her with horror, "Judy, I can understand being desperate, but kidnapping is a bit too much don't you think?"

Now it was Judy's turn to be utterly confused, "...what?" That's when Nick couldn't hold it anymore.

Laughter began echoing through the dining room, and a sea of rabbit ears all swiveled to the bent over fox at the center of the room with two does looking at him like some sort of alien.

Realisation slowly dawned on Judy, and her expression became almost as deadpan as her voice. "What did he tell you?" she asked her sister. The younger dow quickly went over the ludicrous story Nick made up and Judy's expression morphed from deadpan to very irritated. "You know Nick, it would take me less than a minute to convince my dad that you're _terribly_ allergic to blueberries, thus curbing any chance of you tasting any from our farm ever again."

The fox straightened up immediately. "You would never."

Judy's eyes narrowed, "Wanna test that?"

"No, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am."

A delighted and smug smile stretched on Judy's lips, "Two for two today foxy, finally learned not to underestimate a bunny?"

"Gotta know when to hold'em and when to fold'em Ca- _Judy_ , and right now it's folding time," said Nick with a smirk. He needed this little bit of banter. He felt much more at ease now, more like himself.

"So… you didn't kidnap anyone?" the brown doe asked meekly, confusion still clear on her face.

"No Beth, that was Nick's idea of a joke. Don't mind him."

"You just can't grasp my courtly sense of humour, bunny."

"Whatever you say, fox."

"Are you two always like this?" another voice joined in from in front of them. A buck with a very amused expression on his gray face was looking at both Nick and Judy like they were a comedy act.

"If you're asking if he's always such a pain to deal with and if I have to put up with him, then yes," answered Judy glibly.

"I consider myself endearing, actually," shot back Nick.

"I meant that you two bicker like a married couple, really. It's almost like looking at Mom and Dad," said the buck. The insinuation had them both stare at him, Nick with amusement in his eyes, and Judy with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

"You weren't kidding when you said they're desperate to hitch you off, huh?" asked Nick, looking at Judy with a very teasing smile.

"Why does everybody think we're in a relationship?! I don't even like him that way!" cried Judy in exasperation, pulling her ears to the sides of her face.

"Ouch, Fluff. I'm right here you know?" said Nick with surprisingly believable mock hurt.

"No wait-"

"Smooth, Judy," supplied the buck on the other side of the table.

"That's not-"

"If you have to turn down a guy you could at least have a little more tact, you know," said Beth with a look of reprimand.

"I didn't mean it like- What I meant was- I was just trying to… I…," Judy tried to explain herself, but words were failing her and she was looking at all three of them like the world was collapsing on her shoulders.

"I love it when she gets all flustered like that," commented Nick, looking at the other two rabbits.

"It's quite a sight," agreed the still nameless and seemingly constantly amused buck.

"And it's so easy to get her into a fit too," said Beth. All three of them nodded in agreement.

Finally realising what was going on, Judy turned from crestfallen to very annoyed. "I hate all of you." Needless to say, this only got a laugh out of them.

Right at that moment, the door leading to the kitchen opened, letting in the room not only more of the wondrous smell from before, but also four bunnies pushing as many carts filled with steaming plates on each of the three levels they had. Nick didn't recognise any of the rabbits, except for Jeffy, who was trying to surreptitiously steal some food from some of the plates and failing horribly.

The quartet hastily spread through the dining room placing plates for everybody, before running back in the kitchen to get more. After their third run, everybody had a plate in front of them and were ready to eat. Bonnie and Stu came out of the kitchen too, and moved to the head of the center table.

When Nick got his plate, he couldn't help but being impressed by both the smell and the look of it. Or rather both of them, since he was given a choice between a creamy zucchini risotto and a veggie burger with fries. While the risotto _did_ look amazing, his inner kit just screamed at him to get the burger, so he obliged.

After both heads of the family sat down at the table, Nick was eager to dig in, but was stopped by a sharp elbow to the side by Judy, who was shaking her head vehemently. He looked at her in confusion, not understanding what he did wrong before Stu piped up and started saying grace before the meal. He was tempted to scoff at it, not being nearly as religious as these bunnies were, but decided that it would be way ruder than he could get away with and just closed his eyes waiting for the prayer to be done. Luckily for him, it was a very brief prayer and it was over quickly after a chorus of "amen" echoed through the room.

Finally, everybody started eating and Nick took a bite out of the heavenly looking burger. And _holy crap_ did it taste good. The buns were slightly toasted and crispy, while the patty wasn't dry at all like it usually was when he would order one in a fast food in the city, plus whatever sauce they put in it was simply fantastic. It was through sheer force of will that he didn't moan when he bit into it.

"I hope the food is alright for you, Mr. Wilde. I'm afraid we don't have any predator friendly ingredients at the ready," Bonnie's voice rang over the general clutter of mammals eating with a tone that didn't sound remorseful at all.

"Mom!" Judy almost shouted. Unbelievable! Her mother was still trying to antagonise Nick for no goddamn reason.

"Oh it's no problem, Mrs. Hopps," answered Nick with a very understanding tone, "I'm a vegetarian, so anything you guys have in your pantry is completely fine by me."

Judy turned to the fox and tried to convey all of her gratitude to him with her eyes for how well he was handling her mother. She wouldn't be so diplomatic.

"Well, that's interesting! I didn't know predators could go vegetarian," said Stu. Only this time, it was very evident that he was genuinely curious about the topic, and wasn't trying to grill Nick like his wife was. At least in Judy's eyes, anyway.

"To be honest not all predators could, but red foxes are omnivores, so it's not that hard for us to have a vegetarian diet. All I need is some protein bars and taurine supplements. Maybe some tofu here and there. Besides, I never liked the taste of bugs anyway, so it wasn't a tough decision for me," explained Nick. Again he didn't look bothered at all by it, and Judy wondered if he was really not bothered by the topic or not.

"Huh, and is that going for you? Being a vegetarian I mean," asked a buck from the far left.

"It helps me keep my figure, that's for sure!" That got a chuckle around the table. Thankfully, the conversation then moved on from Nick's dietary habits to everyday chatter. Some of Judy siblings predictably asked about what happened in the city, but she was able to dodge some of the riskier questions pretty easily, thanks to some help from Nick too. If he wanted to, he could talk circles around mammals for an hour and they wouldn't even notice, which Judy guessed was an excellent skill to develop for his hustles.

Throughout the whole meal, Judy kept an eye on her mother. She really didn't understand why she was behaving like that, but she sure as hell didn't like it. She caught Bonnie looking back at her a couple of times, but she never addressed either of them again and just went on with her lunch. Regardless, Judy decided that keeping Nick away from her until they went back to Zootopia would be a wise choice. It was going to be a long two days.

After everybody was done with their food the same four bunnies as before stood up and went around the tables collecting empty plates and cutlery. That's when Nick finally realised that there was nowhere near 300 rabbits in the room. "I thought you said you had more than 300 siblings alone Hopps, where's the rest of them?" he asked Judy.

"Some are still out in the fields, others are around the house waiting for their turn."

"Their turn?"

"Yeah, we generally eat in shifts. It's faster and easier to manage. Could you imagine how much preparation cooking for 300 rabbits together three times a day would take? This way, we have dedicated cooks and dishwashers for every shift, with each shift being split by a 30 minutes break between them," explained Judy. All Nick got out of it was that being a bunny was much more complicated than he thought before.

After the tables were emptied, rabbits started flocking out the room in small groups or pairs seemingly intent on just going on with their day. Surprisingly, no one seemed too affected by Nick's presence. Judy fully expected both her and the fox would have to ward her family off of them with their questions and curiosity, yet everybody seemed to pretty much just accept her small recollection of the events in the city she gave during lunch and the fact that Nick came home with her. She was both disappointed that her adventure was sort of looked over by everyone and pleased nobody was busting out the pitchfork because a fox was in their house. Ultimately, she decided not to look at this gifted horse in the mouth and take it as it was. She also excused herself to all the horses out there in her head.

"So what now? Got any fascinating farming-related activity for me to try out, Hopps?" asked Nick after most of the bunnies in the room had left. There was little more than a pawful left.

"Nope. Not yet anyway, for now I just want to rest a bit and start packing my clothes. Wanna tag along?"

"A visit to Judy Hopps' kithood room, how could I refuse?" said Nick with a look that promised trouble.

"If I catch you snooping around in my room, your tail is gonna hang above the fireplace."

"The thought never entered my mind."

"Uh huh. Come on, let's go," with that, they both sat up from their chair. Judy grabbed her cane and started walking towards the door until she heard an "Ahem" coming from behind her. Turning around, she found Nick standing there with his arms crossed staring at her paw. Following his gaze, she saw her paw gripping the cane, but not actually using it. With a sigh and a roll of the eyes, she actually started walking using the cane as intended with a very content looking fox close behind her.

Climbing up the stairs to the third floor again, which was much more of a hassle than it should've been thanks to that stupid cane, they went down the hallway the same way Nick's borrowed room was and stopped in front of the door right before. How Nick didn't notice Judy's room was so close to his before, he didn't know.

When Judy opened the door, Nick was greeted with exactly what he imagined Judy's room growing up would look like. She too had a wardrobe and a small desk on the right side of the room, a rabbit-sized bed at the end, with no furniture on the left side. However, instead of posters about metal bands, Judy's room was positively wallpapered by various ZPD posters and motivational posters. The whole place looked like an advertisement to join the police force. What caught Nick's attention, however, was the almost literal mountain of plushies on her bed and scattered around the room. It was like being back in the dining room again, with a sea of (fake) bunny eyes trained on him.

After he got over that small initial shock he went immediately into teasing mode, "Remind me how old are you, Officer Hopps?" he asked, nodding towards the bed when Judy turned to look at him.

Judy looked at the bed then back at him, "What, they're cute! Plus I don't like to sleep alone. It's a bunny thing…"

"Uh huh, and the bunny thing is why you need seventeen hundred of them, I guess?"

"If you're gonna be like that I'm calling the small ones again."

"I yield, I yield!" said Nick with a chuckle. "Seriously though Ca- _Judy_ , you can't bring me here and not expect me to crack a joke or two."

"I can and I will!" shot back Judy with a miffed tone. "And stop correcting yourself, I told you it's fine to call me Carrots as long as you don't mean anything by it."

"I know, but I don't think your Mom likes it too much, and-"

"Then it's her damn problem isn't it?!" interrupted Judy with anger both in her voice and body language. Her paws were balled up and her ears were straight up.

Nick obviously taken aback by this, took a step back and raised his paws in surrender, "Woah, Woah, easy there bunny! What's the matter?"

Judy visibly deflated with a sigh, "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's just that my Mom is being… Just… URGH!"

This whole time Nick thought only about how this weekend could've been stressful or awkward for him, without thinking about how it could be for Judy too. He heard her argument over the phone with her parents, he saw how worked up she got every time Bonnie made a snippy comment towards him and yet he didn't realise how the visit was affecting his friend. ' _So much for being good at reading mammals, Slick._ '

Nick awkwardly shuffled towards a very frustrated Judy, who had her paws on her face trying to calm down. He was still by no means good at comforting mammals, but that didn't mean he couldn't try. "Wanna talk about it?" he offered rubbing her shoulder.

She sighed, "No… I just want to take my mind off of it." She finally looked at him with a small smile, placing a paw on his, "Thanks for asking though."

Nick smiled right back, "No problem. Wanna lie down a bit or pack away your clothes first?"

"Pack my clothes, so I don't have to think about anymore."

"Gotcha." They turned towards her wardrobe, before Nick's bladder made itself known to him. "Actually before we do that, could you tell me where the bathroom is? I don't think Junior can hold for much longer."

Judy looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Junior? Really?"

"Hey at least I didn't name something stupid like 'The King' or gave it a real name like 'Braxton'!" quipped the fox.

"Bra- pfft hahaha! Who even does that?" she asked between fits of laughter.

"Oh believe me more mammals than you'd think," nodded Nick, before rubbing his legs together, "But seriously, that bathroom?"

"All the way down the hallway to the left, get out of here!" Judy said still laughing a bit. Nick shot her a quick salute before basically sprinting out the room. That got another chuckle out of her. He always did that, every time she was upset he always had a joke ready, or somehow knew what to say to make her smile again.

Shaking her head with a last giggle, she opened her wardrobe and started rifling through her clothes. What she found was horrifying. Nick was right! Most of her wardrobe was full of plaid shirts and jeans! ' _If he dares make even ONE joke, I'm gonna murder him._ '

With that happy thought in mind, she got to her bed, laid her cane on the mattress and reached under the frame to drag out her carrot patterned suitcase. This would be the third time she used it this year, and she hoped it would also be the last.

She set it on her bed next to her cane and opened it, turning towards the wardrobe again to start packing away when a knock came from her door. Tilting her head slightly, she wondered why Nick would knock before getting in. "Door's open, you know?"

The knob jiggled and the door opened, but instead of a russet muzzle of a fox, she was met with a pair of grey bunny ears. Lowering her gaze, she found the worried face of her mother staring right back at her. It took every ounce of her quickly diminishing willpower not to sigh or scream or both when she saw her, but Judy managed to keep a neutral face and ask, "Hey Mom, need anything?"

Bonnie slowly came into the room and pushed the door behind her, leaving it slightly ajar. "I came here to talk with you, honey," she said with a small voice. When she saw Judy was about to say something, she quickly interjected, "Not to _argue_ , just to talk. Mother to daughter, doe to doe. We've both been pretty close-minded in our beliefs and as a result, we can't see from each other's point of view. I want to fix that."

Judy took more than a moment to think about her mother's proposal. What she said was true, they had been both unwilling to hear the other out, but Judy wasn't the one being hostile about it, _she_ was. So understandably, Judy wasn't really sure this "talk" was such a good idea, then again it was easier to see Hell freeze over than to see her mother with an olive branch. It wasn't because she never thought to be wrong, it just that she never realised it by herself so this whole thing must've been really eating her.

With that in mind, Judy decided to give her a chance, and hopefully resolve this issue once and for all. "Alright."

Bonnie whole posture relaxed and she nodded. "First of all, I want to say I'm sorry for how I've acted towards your friend. It was uncalled for and really rude of me." Internally, Judy thought that she wasn't the one who she should apologise to, but reminded herself that they were supposed to talk, not to argue, so she just nodded. "I also want to apologise for my outburst in the kitchen, even if you raised your voice first." Judy almost scoffed. Of course, she couldn't just apologise without spreading some of the blame. Once again, however, for the sake of not arguing she just nodded.

"On the other paw, I also want you to understand _why_ I acted like that. You're my daughter Judy, and I know I say all too much, but I worry about you. A lot. And I know you're all grown up now and can take care of yourself, but in my eyes, you will always remain the little ball of fluff that ran face first into a wall first thing after she learned how to walk," Bonnie said with a small giggle. Judy couldn't help but grin herself. She had to admit she was a bit of a pawful when she was a kit.

"So when you decided you wanted to become a cop when you grew up, you can imagine how worried I became. At first, I thought it was only a phase, that maybe when you were a bit older, you would move onto the next impossible dream. But you never did. You never gave up, and you managed to make the impossible, possible," Bonnie said with clear pride in her voice. Judy was quite taken aback by it. This was probably the first time her mother actually praised her for her accomplishments without trying to sway her back to farming.

"When you moved away to Zootopia on your own to become a big city police officer, I was equal parts proud and terrified. You trained hard for it I know that, but being a cop is still an extremely dangerous job, and decided to do it in one of the biggest cities in the world, full of all kinds of predators. No matter the amount of training you're still a bunny Judy." And here was the slap back to reality. Her mother praising her for her work was too good to be true, there had to something attached at the end.

"So when you decided to run back to Zootopia after you came back home to safety, all those fears were back full force, especially since I had no idea why you ran off like that. Then we saw the news, and all of my fears came true at once. You got injured trying to save the city and were in some hospital somewhere and we couldn't reach you. It was the most terrifying, horrific and stressful day of my life," said Bonnie with something akin to sorrow in her voice, if not quite and Judy actually empathised with her. She could only imagine how bad it would feel to know someone you love is hurt and have no way to reach them.

"Then when we finally get to talk to you, you tell us about how you faced off a murderous sheep and almost died like it's nothing, and that you ended up staying at a random guy's home. You said he saved your life, but we don't know anything about him, so you'll understand why I was very concerned about it. And when we finally get to meet him, he turns out to be a fox!" Bonnie said with distress pouring out from her every pore. Judy was ready to tear into her logic at that very moment, but she decided to see where she was going with this and _then_ take it apart bit by bit.

"What I'm saying is, even if admittedly I went about it the wrong way, everything I did was because I was scared for you." Bonnie's shoulders slumped after her explanation, like a weight was lifted off of her. When she looked back to Judy, however, her eyes didn't show resignation, but resolution. It seemed to the younger doe that even if she thought the things she has done were wrong, she was still standing by them.

Now it was Judy turn to say her piece. "I believe you when you say you were worried, but I don't think you were worrying for me. I think you were worrying for yourself." Bonnie looked baffled and ready to disagree, but she didn't give her the chance.

"All these fears, all these worries were yours, not mine. _You_ were worried about me going to the city and _you_ are afraid of Nick. Not once you thought to stop and ask me how I was feeling," said Judy matter of factly. It wasn't as long of a monologue as her mother's, but it drove the point home.

Bonnie didn't look baffled anymore, she looked offended and Judy knew she struck a nerve. "That's not true and you know it! Of course, I thought about your feelings. Besides, if you wanna be like that, you never asked about _my_ feelings either!"

"You're right, I never asked you because I never needed to. You were always ready to let me know how you felt about my every decision."

"And yet you never listened to me, did you? You always did things how you wanted and never took my advice." Bonnie's tone was getting more aggressive now.

"Why would I listen to you if all you ever told me to do was give up on my dream?!" Judy decided to match and raise her mother.

"Because for once in your life you could be normal like everybody else!"

Silence. Both rabbits looked at each other with shock written on their faces. Both couldn't believe what Bonnie just said. Shock soon turned into despair and into anger.

"Judy I-"

"Don't. Spare me. Just... Just _go_." Judy was trembling. The rage and hurt she was feeling were tremendous, and were pushing to get out.

"Honey please I didn't-"

"I said _GO_!" Judy shouted. There were tears slowly streaming down her cheeks, but her expression was hard. Her eyes wet and furious. The discussion was over.

Bonnie opened her mouth to try one more time, but the glare Judy was giving her stopped her. She messed up hard this time. With her ears lowered behind her back and a distraught expression, she turned around and got out the room, closing the door behind her.

Standing right outside the door was Nick, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable. Bonnie looked at him and saw him stare right back. She took a breath to recompose herself, "You heard didn't you?"

Nick nodded. "Kinda hard not to."

"You must've had a good time laughing at how I made a miserable fool out of myself," said Bonnie with a bit of scorn in her voice.

"There is nothing funny about a mother losing a daughter over her own stupid hung ups."

Bonnie's head snapped to Nick. At first, she felt angry. How dare he say something like that! She was ready to speak her mind, when it finally hit her. He was right. She did just lose Judy, all because she couldn't get over her own fears and support her like she should've. "Oh God, what have I done…" Bringing her paws to her mouth and with tears in her eyes, Bonnie Hopps unceremoniously ran away towards the upper floor.

Nick watched her go with a mix of pity and contempt. ' _She brought this upon herself_.' Turning back towards Judy's door, he didn't know what to do. He knew he should comfort her, but he didn't know if now was the right time, or if he should give her some space. Taking a step forward he clearly heard the sobs coming from behind the door and made up his mind.

Slowly opening the door, Nick peeked his head in and saw Judy sprawled on her bed hugging a pillow and crying her heart out. "Hey Carrots, mind if I come in?" he asked in a soft tone. He didn't get an answer and he hesitated for a second. ' _In for a penny…_ '

He finally got in the room and closed the door behind him. Slowly, he moved towards the bed and gently sat on it. After another second of genuinely not knowing what to do, he settled for delicately rubbing Judy's back to let her know he was there. It seemed to do the trick, because her sobbing calmed down a bit, even if she didn't stop crying. So he just sat there and provided what little comfort he could until her crying subsided to just sniffling some minutes later.

"Feeling better?" asked Nick in a soft voice once he was sure that she wasn't crying anymore.

"...Maybe I should've been normal, then all of this would never have happened." Judy's voice was raw from all the crying and muffled by the pillow she was still hugging and stuffing her face in.

That thought coupled with the defeated tone Judy used made Nick furious. Not with Judy, but with her mother. That bunny managed to make one of the most headstrong mammals he ever met think she should be "normal" just to please her.

"Judy look at me." She did so. Her eyes, red and puffy, peeked over the edge of the pillow and saw a very serious fox looking right back at her. "Maybe you're right, if you listened to your Mom and never became a cop this argument would never have happened. Do you wanna know what else would have never have happened? You would've never come to Zootopia as the first ever rabbit officer and you would've never solved not one, but two conspiracies that threatened to destroy the city and I would've never met someone who believed in me like you did. It's because you are who you are that the world is a better place today. You're a hero Fluff, so never let anyone you should be anything but."

The finality with which he delivered his speech and the seriousness on Nick's face took Judy by surprise. This wasn't the first time he reassured her (which made her wince internally about how much crying she'd done in front of him for a second), but it was the first time he was so adamant about it. She slowly raised herself and shuffled closer and hugged him with all the strength she could master. After a quick wheeze, Nick hugged her back with far less force.

"Thank you," said Judy, her voice now muffled by the fox's chest instead of the pillow.

"You're welcome. Now, if you'd let me breathe again, I'll say we're even," was Nick's strained response. After a small and wet giggle, Judy relented her bone-crushing hug.

"How do you always know what to say to make me feel better?" For Judy, this was a genuine question. It seemed to her that no matter the situation or the problem at paw, he always had something at the ready, be it a joke or something like this.

"It's just part of my suave and caring personality, Fluff," said Nick with incredible nonchalance, while doing laps in his head for guessing it right first try.

Judy snorted at that and lightly tapped Nick on the arm. "You're incorrigible." They both smirked at each other before Judy turned pensive. She'd been thinking all week about how to bring this up, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

"You know, you're absolutely right when you say that I believe in you and I know that the first time I asked you I immediately screwed up," she said while getting up from the bed and moving to the desk.

"But I've really thought about it, and I believe it's _probably best_ if I had a predator as a partner." With that, she opened one of the drawers and produced the application form Nick filled out almost three and a half months ago, offering it to him with a hopeful smile.

Nick was flabbergasted. He was staring at both Judy and the form like they were some sort of alien. "You… You kept it for all this time?"

Judy let out a nervous chuckle while rubbing the back of her head, "Haha, ahh, yeah I did." She shrugged, "I kind of hoped I could meet you again and apologise, but I was too ashamed to face after what I did. But now we're here sooooo, what do you say? Wanna try and make the world a better place, together?"

Nick still looked somewhat lost. He took the form in his paw and looked at it. The edges were tearing and there was a small hole in the middle where the folding lines met. It looked ragged and extremely worn for something that wasn't even that old. The ink on the paper was slightly fading and blotches of water were spread here and there. ' _This bunny…_ '

"I think…" Nick paused and Judy held her breath. "I think we're gonna need a new application, because this one looks like it's been through hell."

Judy squealed and jumped. "Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes!" She rushed to Nick, grabbed his paw and pulled him towards the door. "Come on let's go!"

Nick stumbled and almost fall flat on his face before he found his footing again and managed to stop the crazed rabbit from dragging him to wherever she was going. "Whoa! Hey calm down sugar rush, where are we going?"

"What do you mean where are we going? We're going to Zootopia! We need to turn in your application!" Judy tugged Nick again, and for the second time, he almost fell.

"Wait! Okay, first of all you need to stop that," he said pointing a finger at her, to which she smiled meekly, "Second of all, we came all the way out here to get your clothes," he said now pointing at the still full wardrobe.

Judy's head snapped to the wardrobe, then to the empty suitcase and back to the wardrobe. Then she broke Mach 3. Nick watched slack-jawed as a blue and grey blur moved to and fro. In seven seconds flat, the wardrobe was empty and Judy was standing by the door suitcase in paw, with the cane dangling from her elbow.

"Done! Now hurry!" she said twisting on the spot and basically throwing the door open, before a large and dark paw landed on her shoulder.

"Seriously Carrots, cool your jets!" said Nick who was getting whiplash by now.

"What is it?" Judy was, in turn, getting annoyed by being stopped every five seconds.

"Are you sure it's alright to leave now, after…" he said gesturing vaguely with his paw.

Well, that was a wet slap back to earth. Judy managed to forget about the argument with her mother for a second, but now it was right back at the center of her mind. She visibly deflated and her ears fell down behind her back. She thought about what to do for a moment.

"I… don't know. But I really don't want to think about it right now, and I certainly don't want to stay."

Nick didn't look too sure about it, but nodded nonetheless. "You should still warn them that you're going back, don't you think?"

Judy looked at Nick pleadingly, "Can I just text them that I'm going?"

"You know you'll to deal with this sooner or later, right?"

"Yes I… Just, not right now. Please?" She turned the dial up to eleven, and the big guns were out. Two purple circles of adorableness and pleading stared at Nick's soul and he almost recoiled.

'Those things should be registered as a weapon.' He sighed, "Alright, let's go."

A beaming smile appeared on Judy's face and she nodded before skipping down the hallway. A clear of the throat stopped her dead in her tracks, and she turned to see an image of the past. Nick was standing still, his arms crossed and glaring at the cane on Judy's groaned and rolled her eyes, before taking the damnable stick in her paw.

"Happy now, _partner_?" she asked with a very annoyed tone, but couldn't repress another smile at the use of the last word.

Nick smiled right back, "Very happy, _partner_."

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 **A/N: Once again I find myself in this position where apologies aren't enough. This chapter took entirely too long to come out, again. I have no excuses either, I just put it off over and over again. I'm terribly sorry. Still, I really hope you liked this chapter nonetheless. For those of you that I made Bonnie a bit** _ **too**_ **evil, you're probably right. Since we didn't see much of her in the actual movie, I based her character on a mix of my grandma and my aunt. I guess you could say I don't like them too much. The argument was also based on a number of arguments** _ **I**_ **had with loved ones, where I've been on both sides, so I hope it feels as real to you than it does to me. Most arguments, especially ones as heavy as this, don't get resolved quickly and in one sitting, so that's what I went for here.**

 **As always any review and feedback on where I did wrong and how to improve is more than appreciated!**


	8. Chapter 8 - Talking Heads

**A/N: Before we get into this chapter I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone of you. We reached over 100 followers on the story, which I never thought would be possible. I am really humbled, and can't express how much it means to me.**

* * *

Judy was sitting leisurely on one of the surprisingly comfortable seats of the Zootopia Express. Being lucky enough to get a window seat, the green trees rushing through her view helped her mind to wander, and she thought back to how much of a hurdle _getting_ on the train in the first place was.

* * *

After Nick ran back and retrieved the duffle bag he almost left in the room he borrowed, the duo managed to sneak out of the house without being stopped by one of Judy's many siblings either by a struck of luck, or divine intervention. Either way, they did not question it and thanked their lucky stars.

A star that stopped shining for Nick as soon as they left the Hopps' property. "10 MILES?! And you wanna walk there?!"

"I can't really just leave the truck at the station, can I?"

"What about a taxi? Or a Zuber?"

"A taxi would take as much time to get here as we would take just walking there, and we don't have Zuber in BunnyBurrow," Judy replied with a meek smile. Once again her impulsiveness brought some troubles with it, and Nick had to pay for it too. Not that it was a really high price though, and she was sure that some cardio would only do him some good, but she still felt bad for kind of forcing it on him.

"Of course you don't…" He sighed. "Are we even gonna make it there in time?"

"The next train isn't for another 3 and a half hours, so we have plenty of time. Oh, I know! I can show you around town while we get to the station! What do you say?" asked Judy.

She was met with a levelled stare. "You're gonna be the death of me."

Judy shook her head. "Oh stop whining! It's gonna be fun!"

And it was. At least for Judy. Nick complained for a good part of the walk to town, making snide remarks on how if all the places she wanted to show him were like that, it was gonna be a very repetitive journey. In his defense, the road from her home to town was very dull. There was not much to look at except from seemingly endless crop fields and farms the whole way, but he was hammering the nail a little too hard, and she was starting to get annoyed by it.

But when they finally got into town, and she started pointing out significant spots for her growing up, he seemed to finally have a change in mood and actually enjoy what she was showing him. He was particularly interested in her kithood school and she couldn't blame him, as it wasn't exactly like most schools in Zootopia. First of all was the size, since they merged elementary, middle and high school in a single structure, the result was a massive seven stories tall building that looked more like an apartment complex rather than a school. And second, the variety of tractors and other farming heavy equipment sitting on school grounds was certainly not a common thing of any school in the city. She explained that since most of the kits attending would someday own a farm or at least work on one, they were taught how to do it basically since day one. And that, of course, included how to work any machinery you might find on bigger ones.

After the unbelievable amount of jokes that explanation spawned, they continued with their travel to the station and passed through the town's park. It was nothing too big or extravagant, but that was precisely its charm. There's something special about small countryside parks that makes them so similar yet so different from any other. For Judy, it was all the memories she had of it. All the games of soccer and tag, all of the races to get from one end to the other and all the time spent in the shade of the trees during a hot summer with her friends. Strolling through it always took her down memory lane and left her with a nostalgic smile on her face.

For Nick what made this park so different was the utter serenity of it. Yes, Zootopia had parks too, great ones even -Savannah Central Park was recently voted as one of the most beautiful parks in the world!- but they were still as chaotic as the city was in their own way. Food vendors shouting to get the people's attention, children screaming and their parents yelling right back, and just the sheer amount of mammals would take away from your enjoyment of a leisurely walk.

This one instead was just… _peaceful_. The kits playing around weren't screaming, they were laughing, and it filled the air. The mammals around him weren't yelling, but having a peaceful conversation with each other or just enjoying the scenery. And the only food vendor he saw was snoring away in his chair behind the stall. It was such a stark contrast from what he was used to, and he was savouring every second of it.

All the good things come to an end, however, and so did their stroll. Coming out the other side of the park, the duo found themselves almost at the edge of town, and very close to the station. No more than a couple miles left which got a sigh of relief out of Nick and a shake of the head at his antics from Judy.

After some minutes of walking and casual banter, Judy gasped and started gesturing wildly towards a shop on the other side of the road. Before Nick could ask what was going on, she bolted towards the door and basically busted through it.

The first thing she noticed was the smell, which hit her almost before the bell on top of the door could ring. Sweet, rich and oh so fresh it made her stomach growl immediately. The second thing she noticed was the almost blinding pastel pink that covered the walls and most of the appliances and furniture. The third thing she saw was the distinct lack of mammals inside the shop.

"Be thur in a minute!" a very accented voice sounded from the back of the shop, followed by the noise of someone struggling and pots falling over.

"No rush!" shouted back Judy with a chuckle.

"She says after she literally sprinted into the place," said Nick from behind her. She almost jumped from the surprise. How the hell did she not hear him get in, let alone behind her?

Right at that moment, a rotund fox came through the door that led in the back room, wiping his paws on his apron. "Sorry 'bout that, how can I - Judy! Holy smokes ya alright! TV done said you almost died fightin' that mad ol' sheep in the city," His attention shifted to Nick, and for a second the two foxes only stared at each other.

Gideon was more surprised than anything looking Nick up and down as if to make sure that he was actually real, while the conmammal was measuring the baker off like he was trying to figure out everything about him with just a look. It only lasted a few moments, however, before both broke into a pleasant smile, one more real than the other.

"Well, would ya look at that! It's not' e'eryday that I see 'nother fox 'round these parts. Why don't ya introduce me to ya friend there, Judy?" asked Gideon with something akin to giddiness in his voice.

The rabbit looked between the two foes trying to figure out what was going on before speaking, "Ah… Well, Gideon, this is Nicholas Wilde, he solved both the 'Missing Mammals' and the 'Nighthowler' case with me. Nick this is Gideon Grey, we went to school together, and he was actually the reason I figured out what Nightholwers actually were!"

The city fox offered his paw for a shake, and the baker might have been a little too rough with it, judging by the way Nick took it back a bit too quickly and stretched it behind his back. His "smile" never broke, however.

"I think that Officer Hopps is giving me too much credit, she did all the work in the investigations, I was merely along for the ride," said Nick.

"Yeah, same 'ere. Don't think ah did anythin' to make her realise nothin'," responded Gideon in kind.

Judy just rolled her eyes. Was it a fox thing not being able to accept the praise? And what was it with Nick calling her Officer? "Anyway Gid, I just wanted to stop by and take a look at the shop before getting back, but if you're closed I can pass some other time," said Judy.

"Oh nah, shop's open. Just not many mammals comin' in ta eat these days. Mostly work delivery. Folk 'round here still not 100% okay with gettin' too close to a pred given all that's done happened in the city, y'know?" at seeing the almost pitying look forming on Judy's face the heavier fox quickly changed his tune, "Can't complain though! Still get 'nough orders ta keep me busy all day, and more than 'nough to provide for myself. No matter what, folk still like pies I tell ya!"

An idea formed in Judy's mind, "Well how about we change that! I could go for a slice of pie, what about you Nick?"

"I don't know, are we gonna make our train?" asked Nick in what anyone would think of as a profoundly remorseful tone.

"The train isn't for another hour, and the station is maybe 15 minutes away if that. We're gonna be fine," answered Judy.

"It's settled then. You go take a seat, and I'll bring ya the menu in a sec," said Gideon excitedly. While he dashed to the side to gather the menus and a couple of glasses, Judy and Nick waddled off to a table in the corner of the shop close to the window.

As soon as they sat down, Judy said, "Alright, I don't know what's going on, but you better stop it."

"What are you talking about, Fluff?" asked Nick confused.

Eyes narrowing, the doe went on, "Don't think I didn't see the way you two squared each other right now. Whatever it is you're doing, stop doing it."

"I'm not doing anything Carrots, and it wounds me that you would think so," said Nick, turning his head away and closing his eyes in one of his all too common acts of fake offense. One eye cracked open a second later, "And if I _w_ ere doing something, it would be because my soon to be partner dashed inside a tacky cake shop to catch up with her suspicious fox best friend from school."

Judy rolled her eyes at how painfully unsubtle Nick was, "First of all, this is a pie shop, not a cake shop. Second of all, I didn't dash anywhere, just crossed the street. And third of all, Gideon is not suspicious, nor my best friend," she said, listing off each point on her fingers.

Nick looked thoroughly unimpressed, "Huh uh. Then why are we sitting here and not going to the train station?"

Judy sighed, "Listen I just wanted to stop and say thank you for helping me with the case, and what a better way to do that if not helping his business?" she said, before a grin appeared on her mouth, "Besides, why do _you_ care so much? Are you jealous that you're not the only fox in my life?" she asked teasingly.

Now it was Nick's turn to roll his eyes, "Pfft, please. That's not the case and you know it," the only problem was, no matter how good of an actor Nick was, Judy was starting to get used to it and could sometimes look through the act. This was one of those times.

"Oh my gosh! You are! You _are_ jealous! I knew it!" she said while laughing.

Nick made a display of looking annoyed, "Now you're just being childish." The line was delivered with the perfect tone to accompany his expression. Too bad that the entire charade was utterly demolished when Judy managed to see the slight red tinge of his folded ears from her lower point of view. Needless to say, this only got more and louder laughter from the bunny.

"What are y'all laughing about?" asked Gideon, who approached their table.

"She's trying to be a comedian, but her jokes need a little work," said Nick before Judy could crack another tease. He then noticed the two pieces of papers the other fox was holding, "What's that?"

"Oh, I seem ta 'ave left ma brain on the nightstand this mornin', and didn't give ya'll menus to choose ya pies from. Here ya go."

After thanking Gideon, both Nick and Judy looked over what the shop had to offer. Nick made up his mind in less than 4 seconds. "I'll take a piece of blueberry pie."

Judy snorted, "Surprising no one."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Nick shrugging.

Judy took some more time before deciding on something, "I'll take the vanilla and peaches one, thank you."

With their orders made, Gideon made quick work of them, dashing behind the counter and bringing out two heavenly smelling and looking slices of pies. Nick didn't waste a second and dug right in. As soon as the little morsel of pie got into his mouth, he practically melted on the spot, eyes rolling in their socket and ears splaying out. The slice stood no chance and only lasted mere seconds.

Judy's pie was delicious too, the two flavours complemented each other perfectly and the pastry was baked masterfully, but she opted not to scarf it down and have a little more tact.

Gideon chuckled watching Nick devour his slice, "Well, take it ya like it?"

Swallowing his last bite, Nick stared at the empty plate in front of him, "I thought I knew love before, but I was just a fool…" That got a good laugh from Gideon and a head shake from Judy.

The baker brought Nick another slice, that he thoroughly enjoyed again, although at a slower pace. After that, the topic of discussion became the Nighthowler Case, naturally. Gideon wanted to know what happened, so Nick and Judy gave him an abridged version. Throughout the whole retelling, Gideon looked a mix between engrossed in the story and shocked. Judy guessed she should get used to the reaction since it seemed to be the most popular one. She also noticed the quick worried glances he would throw to Nick from time to time. He looked uncomfortable around him, but she couldn't figure out why. Nick on the other paw, was just lazily sitting there, giving his two cents or cracking a joke here and there. If he noticed the other fox looking at him, he didn't show it.

After the story was over, Judy wanted to ask Gideon what was going on, but another issue needed to be addressed first, "Hey Gid, could you tell me where the bathroom is?"

The fox nodded and pointed behind him with a thumb, "Door ta the right, 'fore the curtain."

Judy got up and shuffled to the bathroom, throwing one last look at the two foxes before rounding the corner. After she dealt with her business, she came back to a very curious scene. Gideon was fidgeting in his seat, almost looking ashamed, while Nick was just staring at him, expression blank. It made Judy cock her head to the side and wonder how the hell did they manage to get like that in less than five minutes. "Heeey guys… What's the matter?"

Gideon almost jumped on the spot when she asked the question, and quickly stumbled through an answer, "Oh, ahh, nothin', nothin'. Just, uuuh. Just waitin' for ya to get back 'tis all!" It was clear which one of the two foxes was better at lying.

But Nick didn't say anything despite that. He just stared at Judy -or rather through her- with an unreadable expression. If she wasn't perplexed before, that did it for sure. "Everything alright Nick?"

The fox blinked, before saying, "Yeah… Everything is alright." He took out his phone and looked at the time, "We better get going, or we're gonna miss the train."

Judy looked at the two, feeling lost. Nick was checking his duffle bag with the same blank expression, while Gideon was purposely looking anywhere but at the two of them. She prided herself being smart, but this riddle she really couldn't make heads or tails of. What was even more frustrating was that Nick was right, looking at her own phone, she saw that they had less than 45 minutes to make it to the station. So no matter how much she wanted to just sit down and question the two until either one broke down, she instead had to thank and pay Gideon for the fantastic pies and hit the road.

Once they got out of the shop, Judy tried to gauge a reaction from Nick, but he wasn't giving away any emotion, just walking one step behind her, following with blank eyes and a pensive expression. Every time she turned to look at him, she would find his eyes on her, only to be quickly averted on the sidewalk.

Another thing Judy prided herself in was her patience, too bad everybody around her knew that was bullcrap, "Alright Slick, what's going on?" she said after she put herself right in front of him forcing him to stop and look at her, "You've been acting strange since I've come back to the bathroom, so spill!"

Nick raised an eyebrow, "Don't know what you're talking about Carrots." To give credit where credit is due, this time it was much more difficult for Judy to see through the lie.

"You look someone stole your favourite toy. Something's bothering you, so please stop lying and tell me," said Judy. It sounded a little demanding, but he was being difficult, and she wasn't having it.

Nick rubbed his eyes, "I'm just tired Carrots. We've been walking for hours, and I just want to get on a train and go home. _Can we do that_?" The tone Nick used surprised Judy a little. It wasn't harsh or sharp, but it was _final_.

Ears slightly drooping, she decided to drop it and got back to walking. It stung that he didn't want to tell her what was bothering him, she definitely felt comfortable enough with him to do so, but she figured it probably wasn't the same for Nick. She heard a sigh come from Nick but nothing else.

They were close now, less than half a mile away. That's why when her leg started hurting it was twice as annoying. She soldiered on, however, all the while cursing in her head. ' _Stupid leg and its stupid stitches that hurt like hell! Can_ something _go right today?_ ' Her train of thought got interrupted by Nick coming up to her.

He must have noticed her limping, because he bent over and gently took her suitcase from her paw, "Use your cane," he admonished softly.

She was ready to protest and tell him she could carry it herself, but a shot of pain that ran through her leg all the way to the base of her ears made her reconsider. "Thank you."

Nick nodded, then pointed to the cane. For the thousandth time, she rolled her eyes and started leaning on the walking stick a bit more.

It helped, and she hated that it did _so much._

They made it to the station with 10 minutes to spare. Not exactly a close call, but definitely closer than Judy would've liked. She guessed the stop at Gideon's shop didn't help their time. She was sitting on one of the few benches laying around the station while Nick was getting tickets. ' _You go and rest that leg, I'll take care of the tickets_ ,' were his exact words, and Judy couldn't help but giggle at how much he worried about it. It was, dare she say it, cute.

There weren't many bunnies -or mammals in general- waiting, maybe ten, which was a blessing. The last thing she needed was a crowded train. A small breeze blew through, and she closed her eyes, appreciating it as much as possible. It wasn't fully summering yet, but the heat didn't seem to care. She was enjoying the momentary respite so much, that she almost didn't notice Nick coming back. He sat down at the opposite end of the bench after handing her a ticket.

He was still looking off, staring at the ground while fiddling with his own ticket in his paws, which bothered her to no end. Her friend was feeling down and wasn't telling her why! She really wanted to help him, especially after how much _he_ helped her, but at the same time, she didn't want to force it on him. She was stuck in the middle and didn't know what to do.

Taking a small breath, she made up her mind, "Hey Nick?" He cocked his head at her but didn't look her way, "I… I don't know what's bothering you, and I don't wanna force you to tell me… But I want you to know that if you _want to_ talk about it, I'm here for you."

Finally, Nick looked at her. _Really_ looked at her, his eyes locked with hers, searching for something she didn't know but hoped he could find nonetheless. After some moments that seemed ages to her, he shook his head with the faintest of smiles on his maw, "Don't worry about it. I'm just being a big dumb fox."

"Of course I worry Nick, you're my friend. So please, if you need anything just ask, okay?" Judy said, placing a paw on his arm exactly like she did on the gondola all those months ago.

Only this time, Nick didn't pull away. On the contrary, his smile got a little bigger. "Thank you."

There it was. The side of Nick that wasn't all snark and bitterness, all sarcasm and coyness like the one he always showed to everyone. He seemed to show it to her more and more lately, and every time he did, she felt happy. Special even. It meant he trusted her, and that was one of the biggest compliment he could ever give her. She didn't want the moment to end.

So naturally, the universe immediately decided to cut it short. " _The Zootopia Express Train number 2053, coming from Deerbrooke and going to Zootopia, is approaching platform number 1. Please stay behind the yellow line and wait for other mammals to step down before boarding the train. Thank you._ "

"That's our call!" said Nick before standing and picking up both Judy's suitcase and his duffle bag. "We better get going."

Reluctantly, Judy got up from the bench and got her cane, both so Nick wouldn't stress her about it again and because her leg was still throbbing a little bit.

They approached the train and moved to the side of the medium size door to let a couple of rabbits disembark the train. They all gave a wide berth when they saw Nick standing outside which irked Judy, but didn't seem to have any effect on the fox.

Once on the train, the temptation to go back to the observation deck was strong for Judy, but her leg was hurting too much to stand for the three hours ride. Instead, they found a couple seats at the back of the car and settled there. Within the first 5 minutes of travel, Nick was out cold.

* * *

Moving her stare from the trees out the window to the still slumbering form of the fox at her side, a small smile formed on Judy's mouth.

Sure, sometimes he could be difficult to deal with, to say the least, but during the short time she knew him, he's been both an invaluable help with her job and an incredible friend. He had been there for her when she most needed him, both physically and emotionally, and she was sure she would never forget that. She had friends before, but she couldn't name one of them that would go the same length he had for her.

Her somewhat overdramatic train of thought halted when the fox in question snored loudly and shuffled in place.

Looking at him, Judy had to suppress a giggle. He was resting pretty unceremoniously in his seat, arms crossed over his chest, and head tilted to the right, mouth open and tongue lolling out. Not the most dignified of poses.

That's exactly why Judy whipped out her phone and opened the camera on it. Since their little talk at the hospital, Judy had taken a challenge in trying to take as many pictures of Nick in various compromising or embarrassing positions for blackmail purposes.

She obviously didn't have any intention of using them the same way she used the whole tax thing, but she was sure some leverage wouldn't hurt.

This time, however, instead of a regular picture she decided to take a selfie. It was too good of an opportunity to waste. Slowly and carefully, Judy climbed over his seat and put her head very close to his mouth, before putting on a mask of pure fear. After a quick snap, she looked back at it and was satisfied with it, but not done. She wanted to take a normal one too. For how many selfies Nick took during their little shopping spree you would think he wouldn't be too averse to take one with her too, and you'd be wrong. For some reason he wouldn't say every time she asked to take a picture together he reclined, making up one excuse or another. "My fur is a mess" or "The lighting is awful" being the more prominent ones, so she wouldn't let this opportunity either.

Putting her head under his mouth again, she smiled at the camera and made a small peace sign with her free paw. This one required a couple more snaps to get right, but in the end, she was happy with it and crawled back into her seat careful not to wake Nick.

The city was now in view, another 15 maybe 20 minutes and they would be at the station, so maybe waking him up wasn't such a bad idea. She gently prodded his arm and called him, "Nick, wake up sleepy head."

That got her another snore and a half turn away. "Come on Slick, we're almost there," she tried again, this time shaking him a bit.

Another snore and another turn. ' _Alright then._ ' "Watch out, it's the five-oh!"

That worked like a charm. Nick was up and alert immediately, looking around him for the supposed police force coming after him. Once he figured no one was gonna put cuffs on him, he looked at Judy with almost believable disdain. "Very funny Carrots. Let's just make the innocent fox fear for his freedom."

"You're anything but innocent, Wilde," was Judy's comeback.

Nick just sighed. "What time is it?"

"It's almost 7. We're close to the station too."

Looking out the window, Nick saw Tundra Town zooming by. In less than 5 minutes they would set foot back in Zootopia. He couldn't wait. He was prepared for a weekend full of judgemental rabbits and a full third degree by two semi-angry parents, what he got instead was a day full of emotional turmoil. While one could argue that one day is better than three, it still took a significant toll on him.

And on Judy too, judging by how her body was basically radiating exhaustion. Taking a quick look at her, he made a decision. "Listen Carrots, I don't think going to the ZPD is a really good idea right now."

He realised pretty quickly his wording wasn't the best when Judy spun her head so fast towards him, it looked like an animation skipped some frames. "What!?" she asked with her voice and face full of panic.

He immediately ran damage control, "I don't mean what you think I mean! I just don't think that going _right now_ is a good idea. We're both exhausted, your leg is hurting, _and_ it's 7 in the evening on a Friday. Even if we show up, I doubt that anybody would be there to process the papers."

During his explanation, Judy visibly relaxed, "Oh... Geez don't scare me like that you jerk!" she said while lightly shoving him. "Anyway, we came all the way back here to do just that, not going would be silly."

Nick shook his head, "No, we came all the way back here because you needed to get away from your mother and this was the perfect excuse," he said. It hurt Judy to hear it so plainly deconstructed to her. Yes, of course, she wanted Nick to be her partner on the force, but it was true that right then she was using it as an excuse to run from her problems. The fact that Nick knew it too made her feel ashamed.

"Now, while I completely understand wanting some time to think before dealing with _that_ ordeal, I also think that rushing to the ZPD would do us no good," he said in a gentle tone and with a small smile. He saw the change in mood in Judy's eyes and realised that maybe he was too harsh on her without even meaning it.

"So how about we go home now, clear our heads, get a good night's rest and in the morning we sit down and plan what to do? How's that sound?"

While it didn't make Judy feel better about her actions all the way, him understanding helped a lot. What he was saying also made a lot of sense, "Yeah, that sounds good," she said with a small smile of her own.

The train started slowing down, and the conductor made the announcement that they were closing in to the station. All the mammals on the car were getting ready to get out the train, so they decided to do the same. No matter how much Judy complained that her leg wasn't hurting anymore, Nick wasn't having any of it and refused to let Judy carry her suitcase.

Once out of the train she was almost happy he didn't listen. To say the station was hectic would be an understatement, mammals were rushing this way and that going on with their daily lives, not paying attention to any smaller mammals under their feet. It was bad enough to try and get around with her cane alone, she didn't want to imagine what carrying her suitcase too would be like.

Nick, however, seemed to flow between mammals like water. He wasn't even looking in front of him, focusing instead on his phone placing an order for a Zuber. Judy guessed that growing up in the city helped him in this regard.

Luckily they got out in the streets without getting stomped, even though Judy felt like she worked out at the gym for a couple of hours. Her leg wasn't throbbing anymore, but she still had difficulties walking normally. For the second time that day she hated her cane because it was actually helping her.

They waited for the Zuber to show up for a couple of minutes, before loading their luggage in the trunk and finally heading home.

* * *

After they got back to Nick's apartment they went back to the little routine they developed in the five days they lived together. They both got a shower, Nick cooked something for dinner, watched something on T.V. to wind down and like every night so far they got in the same argument.

"Nick, it's _your_ bed! It's not fair!" said Judy.

"You're right! It _is_ my bed, and I decide who sleeps in it. And I decided that until your leg doesn't heal up, you get the bed. Now shoo!" said Nick.

"How many times do I have to tell you my leg is fine? And besides, what does my leg have to do with where I sleep?"

"Your leg is _healing_ , not fine. There's a difference. And I don't wanna risk you falling off the couch."

"Oh please, you _saw_ my bed! Your couch is way bigger than that!" protested Judy.

"You're right again! That's why I'm gonna sleep comfortably on it, while you are going to sleep comfortably, and _safely,_ in my bed. Come on now," said Nick.

Judy had enough of it. They had this conversation , and she always relented at the end because she didn't want to argue and seem rude, but this time she put her foot down. "Listen here mister, either you get in your bed, or no one will."

Nick sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Carrots, I'm not letting you sleep on the couch, not with that leg. End of story."

A light bulb appeared above Judy's head. "Then let's sleep together."

There was a flash of surprise on Nick's face before a very vulpine smirk snaked across his maw, "Careful what you say to a guy Fluff, he might get the wrong idea," he said with a languid tone.

The joke didn't have the effect Nick thought it would. Instead of going beet red and morphing into her cute flustered expression, Judy just smirked back, "Maybe one day if you play your cards right Slick, but tonight I just want the both of us to sleep comfortably, now let's get to it," she said before turning and marching towards the bedroom.

Nick was taken aback by this but followed nonetheless. Years of hustling taught him to just roll with things sometimes, and he was doing just that for now.

Meanwhile, Judy was mentally screaming. ' _Are you out of your MIND!? "Play your cards right"? What the hell am I saying? I don't even find him attractive!_ 'There was a buzzer in the back of her mind like she got the wrong answer in a quiz show, but she was too preoccupied with freaking out to pay attention to it. ' _Oh Lord, what if he takes it seriously? What if he tries to hit on me!? What am I gonna say?!_ '

"Everything alright?" The question snapped Judy back to attention. With a start, she turned sharply to Nick, who was waiting right behind her.

"Yes! Everything's fine! Why do you ask?" she said with an obviously forced smile.

"Well, you've been staring at the door for the last minute," said Nick pointing at the very closed door an inch from her nose.

Quickly wracking her brains for an excuse, she fidgeted on the spot, "Oh, ah, yeah well… I uh… I was just trying to remember if I made the bed this morning!" she said with a broader and even more forced smile. ' _Oh god,_ did _I make the bed?_ '

Nick raised an eyebrow, "Made the bed?"

Judy nodded, "Yeah, wouldn't want you to finally get back to your bed and find it a mess, y'know?" she said with an awkward laugh at the end. The hustler just hummed.

"Yeah, right. In we go!" she said before turning again and opening the door. The bed _was_ made she noticed with a sigh of relief, and there weren't any clothes lying around either. The room was exactly as she found it, except for her suitcase the was now laying at the end of the bed.

Actually, it was _better_ than what she found. While the room was tidy, it wasn't _clean_. Dust was gathering everywhere, and the room smelled like a museum. So, the morning after she slept in it the first time, Judy decided to use some elbow grease and clean it. She dusted the big four drawer dresser and the small desk sitting on opposite sides of the room, the two night stands on each side of the bed and the wardrobe. Lastly, she tried to sweep the floor, but the broom Nick had was as tall as she was, so it was much more difficult than she anticipated. She gave up an hour later after the fifth time she accidentally swept all the dust back in the air. Last but not least, she opened the window, letting some fresh air in.

While Judy was going through all the cleaning in her mind, Nick was still looking at her with a dubious expression. "What?" she asked.

Nick shook his head, "Nothing, just waiting for the next step."

Judy's eyebrow joined Nick's, "Next step?"

"Yes, what happens next? What do we do now that we're finally in the bedroom and the bed has _indeed_ been made, you know?" he asked with a poorly disguised mocking tone. He was trying to make her uncomfortable so she would quit. Sadly, Judy Hopps doesn't know when to quit.

She gladly took the challenge, and answered with a concerning (for the fox) smile, "Next step would be to _get_ in bed."

Nick nodded, "Alright, I'll let you change then," he said before turning to the door.

"I don't need to change," quickly said Judy, before he could get out and probably never come back.

Nick cocked his head to the side, "Are you gonna sleep in that?" he asked pointing at the same oversized t-shirt she borrowed the first night.

"Yeah, I've been sleeping in it every night," she said shrugging.

Nick looked at her for a spell, "I can't decide if that's adorable, flattering, creepy or all of the above."

Judy rolled her eyes, "Har Har. Do _you_ need to change?" she said pointing at his clothes. He was wearing a pair of red shorts and a white t-shirt. It wasn't a pajama, but it didn't seem unreasonable for him to sleep in those.

"Well I usually sleep in my underwear, but since we both know how flustered you get at the mention of those, _Carrots_ ," he said, again with poorly disguised mockery.

Judy pinched her eyes and lowered her ears, trying to hide the mild blush she could feel on them. "Please stop bringing that up. And you can sleep in whatever you want. We're both adults, I think we can manage to see each other in our underwear without jumping out of our furs like teenagers," she said clippedly. He sure wasn't making it easy on her.

In turn, Nick just smiled. "Is that so? Well then," he said, before very unceremoniously dropping his shorts to the ground and throwing off his t-shirt next to them. She wasn't sure if he was striking a pose or not, but she was pretty sure his chest was puffing out a bit. Whatever the case, she immediately realised that she bit a little more than she could chew. No matter how much she regarded him as a friend, she didn't feel comfortable enough with him to be casual about being mostly naked around each other, even though she suggested otherwise.

She was trying her hardest not to let her embarrassment show while cursing Nick for being so relaxed about it.

Meanwhile, Nick was screaming in his head.

' _What the ACTUAL hell am I doing?! I'm in my underwear in front of someone that I could barely look in the eyes less than 4 hours ago, just to mess with her. And now the only thing I want is for the floor to open up and swallow me._ '

The only thing keeping him from freaking out externally were his years as a hustler. Never in his life, he thought he would need those acting skills as much as today.

Judy was slightly fidgeting on the spot, "Right… Why don't you turn off the light and we get on with this uh?" She was hoping that not being able to _see_ him would help.

"Sure."

She was dead wrong. While she couldn't see him in his underwear, she also _couldn't see him at all_. Not knowing where he was in the room did _not_ help her anxiety. ' _Just get to the bed. Once you fall, asleep everything will be alright._ '

They both shuffled into bed, Judy having a little bit more of a hard time than Nick since she couldn't really see in the dark and wasn't familiar enough with the layout of the room yet. Once laying on it, Judy opted to get under the duvet, while Nick just laid on his side facing the wall.

"See? This isn't so bad," said Judy with a shaky voice.

Nick nodded, but it was lost in the darkness for Judy.

"Well, goodnight Nick."

"Goodnight Carrots."

They both closed their eyes and got ready for a good night's sleep.

…

…

…

"Is this extremely awkward for you too?" asked Nick.

"Never felt more awkward in my life," said Judy.

"Glad to see we're on the same page here," said Nick before getting up.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To the couch, where the awkward levels are way lower."

"Oh no you don't!" she said before blindingly grabbing his tail, "You're getting back in this bed, and we're getting over it."

Nick yipped before falling back in bed, "Ouch! Okay, first of all, you don't just grab a fox's tail! It's a very intimate thing!"

Judy let go of it like it was on fire, "Oh God! Sorry I-"

"And second of all," Nick cut her off, "We don't need to get over anything."

"Nonsense!" protested Judy. "You've been uncomfortable around me ever since we went to Gideon's, except for when you fell asleep. And now you're actively trying to distance yourself."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Didn't mean to fall asleep."

"That's what you're apologising for!?"

Nick sighed, "Listen Carrots, I don't want to talk about it. It was just a stupid thing that really isn't important."

"That's not true! It's clearly bothering you, and we both can't do anything about it unless you don't talk to me, Nick." There was a small spell of silence. In the dark, she couldn't see his expression, and it was starting to annoy her. She wanted to know what was going on in his head. "Nick?"

Out of nowhere, she felt his paw of her cheek, and she froze on the spot. It was gentle, but it was creeping her out something fierce. ' _He's touching you, in the dark, while naked. This is getting out of control!_ '

Then, she felt his thumb caress her cheek. Right over the three thin scars on it.

Suddenly it all made sense to her. The way Gideon was acting once she got back to the bathroom, why Nick seemed so out of it for the next hour, and why he was trying to put some distance between them.

Gideon must've told him about their fight as kits, and Nick must have took it the wrong way.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Because it happened so many years ago, it doesn't matter anymore. Besides, Gideon has really changed since then, so you don't need to worry about it," she explained, hoping to clear the air about it.

"I don't care about Gideon, I care about you, Judy." Her ears snapped to attention. Nick used her real name again, he was serious about this. "I made a whole spectacle of mocking you, pulling out my claws and baring my teeth, while you were actually attacked by a fox as a kit. No wonder you're afraid of me." He clicked his tongue, "And I acted so offended by that stupid little spray," he said with a sour tone, before slowly taking his paw away.

Judy caught it before he could, "No! Nick, you had all the rights to be offended by it! I was being a hypocrite and a bigot wearing that thing!" She put his paw on her cheek before continuing, "And while I was scared back there, _I'm not afraid of you_. You're probably the best friend I have, and I trust you."

For the second time that day, Nick was searching in Judy's eyes. He was looking for any shred of doubt, or lie hiding in them. While this time she couldn't see him, she felt his gaze on her, so she again hoped he'd find what he was looking for. And for the second time that day Nick couldn't find anything but sincerity in her eyes. ' _You're being an idiot, Wilde._ '

"I'm sorry."

"No Nick, I'm sorry! I should've never said those things at the conference, and I should've never wore that damned can!" she said gripping his paw a little harder.

"And I shouldn't have threatened you and not give you any time to explain. We're both at fault here."

Judy sighed, "We're both big idiots. Aren't we?"

"Ehh, I wouldn't go as far as saying that we're _both_ idiots…"

A snort escaped her, "You jerk!" she said with a little laugh. Nick chuckled too. She took a deep breath to calm herself a little. Somehow every serious talk she was having this week turned to be emotional, and she was starting to feel a bit drained now.

"Come here," she said before she pulled Nick's arm and made him fall right into a hug. She forgot that he wasn't wearing a shirt, so when she got a face full of fur she was a little surprised, but quickly got over it. It felt really nice if she was being honest.

After a second, Nick hugged her back. "What's with you and hugs?"

She patted him on the back, "Shut up you're enjoying this as much as I am."

"Whatever you say." He was. His tail was wagging furiously behind him, and he didn't even notice. Judy did, however.

When she felt satisfied with the hug, she pulled back and sighed. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm _really_ tuckered out now. Too many emotional talks in one day."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired too. The nap on the train helped, but I like sleep way too much," he said before starting to get up again. "I'll let you rest."

"No no no," Judy said before blindingly grabbing for him again, this time thankfully by the arm. "I was serious about you sleeping on your own bed. No couch for you. Now get down and sleep."

Nick debated in his head arguing that sleeping together was still too awkward, but the tone in Judy's voice wasn't open for discussion. "Fine," he relented. He would just get up and go to the living room once she fell asleep, or when the awkwardness rose to the roof again.

He laid down again and face the wall like before. "Goodnight Carrots."

Instead of an answer, he felt Judy shuffle behind him before she snuggled close to him and hugged him again. He stiffened up, "Uuuh, Carrots?"

"I told you didn't I? It's a bunny thing, we don't like to sleep alone," she said in a meek tone. "Does it... Does it bother you?" she asked. Maybe she was crossing the line now. The last thing she wanted was to make things worse right after they patched it up.

Nick thought about it for a second. If he was honest, it actually felt somewhat good. It was reassuring to have her there. It felt intimate, but at the same time, it wasn't scandalous.

He could never say it out loud, however, "I guess it can't be helped."

Judy smiled on his back. He was being an open book right now. "Goodnight Nick," she said yawning and closing her eyes.

"Goodnight," said Nick before smiling and closing his eyes too.

In less than 10 minutes, they were both soundly sleeping, reassured by the presence of the other that everything was alright.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Alright, so this is going to be a LONG author's note, so I will put a TL;DR at the end of it if you don't care to know about my personal life.**

 **So remember how I was complaining about life being a bitch? Well apparently she heard me, because in the span of a month I: 1) Found out I have a tumor over the entirity of my liver, 2) Went on vacation for a week, and 3) bought a house. Pretty crazy huh? First things first, the tumor. In january I was hospitalised for an acute pancreatitis, which wasn't fun as it was, but at the end of my stay the doctors tell me that the pancreatitis was cause by a tumoral mass pushing on the pancreas it self. Apparently I had an angioma (a type of begning tumor) grow on my liver for the past twenty years, and it had reached the size of 17cm. Now normally an angioma wouldn't be a problem, except they average around 2 to 3 cm. With the size of mine, there was a risk of it developing into cancer, so I had to have a surgery were the docs would remove part of my liver and all the tumoral mass. I was back in the hospital a month later, and stayed there for two weeks of agonizing pain. Not. Fun.**

 **Silver lining is that before that, I went on vacation with my girlfriend for a week during Valentines! Yay!**

 **Last but not least, I bought a house. Or rather my family did. So after sorting out all the paperwork and everything that comes with it, we're now obviously in the middle of moving.**

 **Not gonna lie, 2018 didn't start too hot for me. Been stressed out of my mind pretty much constantly, so writing wasn't really at the top of my priority list. So for the milionth time, I'm sorry it took me so long to update this story. I know that it really is bad of me to leave you guys hanging. I hope you can forgive me and still enjoy what I write.**

 **TL;DR I found out I had a tumor, got surgery for it, went on vacation with my GF, bought a house and just generally been a bitch and didn't write.**

 **Anyway, enough about me crying all over myself, I want to hear what you think about the chapter! Did it suck? Was it amazing? Let me know! As always, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!**


	9. Chapter 9 - It's All Fun And Games

**WARNING: The first paragraph of this chapter contains violence and graphic descriptions of gore. If you are uncomfortable with that, you can skip it, and start reading from the second line break.**

* * *

The first two fists were fast, but Judy saw them coming. Raising her arms she blocked the first, and she ducked down to avoid the second one. However, the knee coming straight for her face was unpredicted. She fell back with a grunt but used the momentum to roll on the ground and get back on her feet.

She immediately got her guard up again, but her opponent didn't follow her. He stayed in place, taunting her. It infuriated her. She launched into him unleashing a two fist combo and a roundhouse kick. Her foe simply parried both fists and jumped backwards to avoid the kick. She expected to be punished for missing, so she raised her guard again as soon as she landed, but nothing came. Her opponent was still taunting her.

"Stop messing with me!" she shouted right before rushing him again, this time sliding on the floor, going for his feet.

He merely jumped over her. "Make me."

That was it. She was going to _destroy him_. Direct attacks weren't working, so she came up with a battle plan. First, she faked a jab to the right, and when he moved to block it, she ducked and went for the legs again. It worked, he lost his footing and started falling. Before he could hit the ground, Judy broke his fall with an uppercut that sent him flying the other way. She had to admit he was quick, rolling on the ground to get back up like she did, but the rabbit was faster. As soon as he was on his feet again, Judy jumped and locked her legs on his torso, spun backwards and smashed him face first on the ground again.

It took him some more time to get up again, and Judy was loving every moment of it. "Had enough yet, _Wilde?_ "

Nick finally managed to stand again and shook himself. "Oooh, I am going to _enjoy_ this." Before Judy could react, he was on her like a hurricane throwing punches left and right. She managed to block them but was quickly getting overwhelmed. As soon as she saw the smallest opening she went for it. After a failed right hook, Nick's side was open, and she tried jab him on the ribs. Nick read her like a book, quickly sidestepping and grabbing her arm. With a quick twist of his torso, he sent her flying through the air, only to ground her again with a double overhead fist.

The hit to the head combined with the fall to the ground stunned her, and she couldn't get up right away. This time instead of taunting her, Nick took advantage of the weakness and kicked her in the ribs, sending her flying once again. This time when Judy hit the ground, she managed to get on her feet again but was still to slow. Nick was on her again so she prepared to block, only this time he didn't throw any punches. Instead, he grabbed her arm and pulled it away from her before delivering an uppercut to her elbow, breaking it immediately with a sickening crunch. She didn't even have time to scream before he crouched and grabbed her leg and drove his elbow on her knee with all of his strength, breaking that too. To finish the combo, Nick landed a haymaker right to her face, sending her up in the air for the third time.

It took her a very long time to get up from the floor, and even then she was barely standing, swaying this way and that. "Please don't do it!" she begged.

"Sorry Carrots, but that's not the game we're playing," said Nick before going in for the kill.

First, he jumped into the air, delivering a roundhouse kick that broke Judy's jaw and made spin in place. Then he grabbed her head and smashed it into his knee, shattering her nose. Lastly, he did a backflip, connecting another kick that snapped Judy's neck.

She fell to the ground limply, her disfigured face looking at the sky while her chest was touching the ground. Nick just stood victorious over her.

* * *

The word "VICTORY" appeared on the screen, thus ending the match. Judy put her controller down on the couch, crossed her arms and glared at Nick. He was looking at her, a shit-eating grin on his face and half-lidded eyes, basking in his glory.

"You cheated," said Judy with a grim expression.

Nick's eyebrows went all the way up, "Seriously Fluff? That's the first thing you say?"

"You did! What was that grab after I punched you!? I've never seen that!"

"Just because you've never seen it, doesn't mean I'm cheating! That's called a 'tech throw,'" said Nick. "Now I believe it's someone's turn to wash the dishes." The grin he was wearing was so smug it almost blinded Judy.

They woke up that morning still snuggled together, which lead to some awkwardness. Sure, they both enjoyed the contact, but dealing with what that meant was a little too difficult for their still sleep-addled minds, so they turned into mumbling fools for a good two minutes before Judy finally broke the spell and got up to take a shower.

After they were both clean and ready for the day, a clear issue presented to them: there was a significant mountain of dishes left in the sink from the night before. Naturally, since they were both grown adults, they immediately started repeating "It's your turn" to each other over and over again.

When it became clear that they would get nowhere like that, they decided to settle it like Gentlemammals. With videogames. They searched Nick's library of titles looking for something that both of them knew how to play, until they landed on "Mortal Kombat," a famous fighting game.

Judy thought she struck gold. She used to play it all the time when she was younger and regularly beat all of her littermates when they dared challenge her. She was sure beating Nick would be a walk in the park.

Fast forward to after the match and Judy was sorely regretting her decision. "You set me up!"

Nick shook his head, "You picked the game yourself Carrots. You even bragged that you were gonna walk all over me. If anything, you set _yourself_ up!"

He was right, and that infuriated her even more. Searching for a retort in her and finding none, she decided to actually go and wash the damn dishes; otherwise Nick might gloat some more, and that would be the end of him. She deftly jumped down the couch and started stomping her way to the sink.

She made it about halfway there before Nick called her, "Aren't you forgetting something, Carrots?"

She stopped mid-step, and her ears dropped to the ground, even more of a sign that she was well and truly pissed. "I swear to God Wilde, if I turn around and I see you holding that stupid cane, _I'm gonna shove it so far up your a_ -"

"Woah, no need to get so violent! I'm just looking out for you!" he said before she could finish her empty threat. Or at least he hoped it was empty. He saw her dropkick somebody off of a train after all…

Judy didn't respond, just got back to stomping her way to the kitchen, grumbling about how someone's tail would look good on a wall.

While the fuming rabbit started soaping the dishes, Nick put the controllers back on their shelf and turned the T.V. back to the news channel.

Unsurprisingly, the NightHowlers' case was still the focus of the broadcast. It had been almost a week since he and Judy had outsmarted Bellwether and nearly every news station was coming up with new updates on the story. Most of them were fake or greatly exaggerated, but mammals would tune in to hear about it nonetheless, so the big heads upstairs didn't seem to care. As long as people would watch it, they would put it on the air.

Right now they were going over the Chief's press conference. Nick had to admit that the buffalo knew how to handle the journalists' incessant questions like a pro. He also sold the whole "undercover" business pretty well, saying that Judy went back to Bunnyburrow to investigate on a possible lead as to why predators were turning savage and how she stumbled upon the answer while conducting an informal investigation. Half truths, giving them something to write about, but not enough to expose his officers or the department itself.

Bogo also didn't mention Nick, nor his involvement in the case whatsoever. He didn't know if the Chief did it to protect his privacy, or because he didn't want to acknowledge he was of any help but he was grateful for it anyway. The last thing he wanted was having hordes of reporters outside his doorstep. Not to mention the number of "acquaintances" who would want to "have a talk" with him too.

Seeing that there wasn't anything _new_ on the "news," Nick started channel surfing. After six different cartoon shows, three other news broadcasts, two cooking shows, and an absurd telenovela where a middle-aged female coyote would continuously get into rooms only to get comically offended or surprised by what was happening in there, Nick settled on a rerun of one of his favourite shows growing up: The A-Team. It was about four members of a crack commando unit that were wrongly accused of a crime they didn't commit and escaped a maximum security stockade and went on to survive as soldiers of fortune.

The show itself was fun to watch, but what Nick liked the most were the protagonists. "B.A." Baracus was a surly and burly bison with a knack for everything mechanic and a petrifying fear of flight. "Howling Mad" Murdock was a black wolf with a white muzzle and underbelly, an incredible pilot with more than a few screws loose. Templeton "Face" Peck was an impeccably groomed camel with a luscious light brown fur. As the nickname would imply, he was the face of the group, endlessly charismatic and with a soft spot for every female in existence. Last but not least was "Hannibal" Smith. He was the leader of the group, both for seniority and rank. He was quick-witted and smart, capable of coming up with a plan for every situation and always ending up on top. Coincidentally, he was also a gray fox. Nick would lie if he said he didn't look up to him a great deal in his younger years.

Ready to enjoy a short leap into the past, all he needed was something to drink. "Hey Carrots, could you ple-" a grunt and a one-eyed death stare from the still irate bunny stopped him mid-sentence, "Actually you know what? Nevermind!"

"That's what I thought," was Judy's curt reply. She was standing on a chair to reach the sink and was scrubbing away at the dishes like she wanted to strangle each one of them.

Getting up from the couch and getting to the kitchen himself, Nick tried to calm the waters a little bit, "C'mon Fluff, murderous rage isn't a good look on you."

"Mark my words Wilde, one day I'm gonna get you back. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but _one day_. And you're gonna regret ever crossing me," she said. Apparently calming the waters will require a little more time.

"Ominous," said Nick before taking a step back from her, just in case, and opening the fridge. A desolate desert looked back at him. Except for a half a jug of milk and a lonely apple, the fridge was empty. "Huh. Looks like we're in serious need of a grocery run unless we wanna go on a very extreme diet."

An acknowledging grunt was the only response he got. ' _Alright, this is getting old._ ' Being fed up with Judy's bad attitude, Nick moved to the sink and turned off the water. She was about to protest, but he beat her to it, "Listen, I don't know why you're so angry right now, but you can't give me the cold shoulder forever just because I beat you in a videogame."

Judy glared at him for a good ten seconds, before sighing and dropping the stare. He was right, she was being way too harsh with him. Her own hubris was the reason she lost and not any traps Nick may or may not have set up. "You're right, sorry. It's just… I'm very competitive, so when I lost I didn't take it all that well…"

"Ya think?" said Nick with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah… I just can't help it. The way you beat me, too, made me really lose my temper. I'll stop now, I promise," Judy said with small guilty smile, her ears rising up again.

Nick smiled right back. He was happy she wasn't really mad at him, especially since he didn't mean to antagonise her. However, this is Nick we're talking about. God forbid he would be upfront with his feelings. "First off, I didn't _beat_ you, I _obliterated_ you. And second off, you're a very sore loser Carrots. You should work on that," he said, counting on his fingers with each point he made.

Judy's ears went right back down. "You're not making this easy, Nick," she said barely holding back the closest thing to a growl a bunny could make.

Nick chuckled and lightly bumped her on the hip, "Scoot. Go get dressed, I'll finish here and then we're gonna go grocery shopping."

Judy looked down at her light purple flannel shirt and blue jeans, then back at Nick, "What's wrong with this?" she asked gesturing to her clothes.

"Nothing, but they're not what I bought you," answered Nick.

Judy clicked her tongue. She hoped Nick would've forgot about that. "Can't we just skip today? I don't wanna change again."

Nick shook his head, "That's not how the deal works Carrots. There's still two days left, then you can go back looking like you just came out of the carrot patch."

Judy harrumphed, "Again, I'm not gonna take that from Floral Pattern Boy."

"Mmh-hm, sure whatever you say. Now go get dressed," said Nick clearly not paying attention and just washing the last of the dishes left in the sink.

Judy _actually_ growled this time and went back to the bedroom. It was the most adorable sound Nick had ever heard, and it took all of his willpower not to "aww" at it.

After a couple of minutes, Nick was done drying the dishes, and Judy came out of the bedroom. She was wearing a two-tone sundress that came right above her knees. The skirt was solid black with pink and blue flowers all over it and two little pockets on the front. The bodice was a semi-transparent white with short sleeves. Last but not least she was wearing a black tank top underneath it.

Nick looked on approvingly. "There we are. Wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Do I really have to go out wearing this?" asked Judy almost looking defeated.

"Why, what's wrong with the dress?"

"It's tight and makes me look like a kit. Plus, with this bandage on my leg I look ridiculous!"

"I think it makes you look cute, with or without the bandage," said Nick. He genuinely thought so, that's why he bought it.

Judy felt blood rush to her cheeks and ears, "What did I tell you about calling me cute?!" she said with righteous anger.

Nick held up his paws and took a step back, just in case, "Sorry, sorry! Still, the sentiment remains. I think it looks good on you."

Now she was sure her ears were getting red as a beet, so she dropped them. It helped her pull off the annoyed look she was trying for. "Hmmph. Are you ready to go?" she asked in a clipped tone that Nick saw right through. Judy was many things, but a good liar wasn't one of them.

He checked one last time for his keys, wallet, and phone and once he was sure he had everything he was good to go, since he actually dressed in the clothes he was supposed to wear. A jet black short sleeved shirt with a crimson red tie, and a pair of blue jeans. Both form fitting and a bit too tight for his liking, but he couldn't deny he looked good in them. Being a naturally slim animal helped sometimes.

"Right after you, madam," he said with a small bow towards the door. Judy rolled her eyes and went outside. Nick saw the abandoned cane on the couch and was tempted to call her back. However, she seemed to still be in a bit of a mood, so he decided not to nag her. He would just bring it with them, and if she started limping again, he would give it to her.

* * *

Nick and Judy had been going out for breakfast a couple of times before in the week she spent crashing at the fox's place. Mainly because neither of them wanted to cook anything as soon as they woke, and coffee or tea only take you so far. On Nick's recommendation, they went to this hole-in-the-wall cafè a couple of blocks down the road from Nick's apartment, and Judy immediately fell in love with it.

It reminded her of Bunnyburrow in some way, with its wood covered walls and the rustic benches and tables. The owner clearly aimed for the "rustic" aesthetic, and it was really working. The rest of the clientele seemed to like it too, and even though both predators and prey were in an enclosed space so soon after the "Nighthowler Incident," the atmosphere was really relaxed.

After waiting in line for a couple of minutes, the pair were greeted by the Vixen behind the counter, "Hey you two! Welcome back!"

"Hi Percy!" said Judy while Nick just nodded. "How's work this morning?"

"A little busy, but that's a good thing! What can I get you?"

"The usual for me," said Nick. He'd been going to the cafe somewhat regularly for almost two years now.

Percy nodded and looked at Judy, "And what about the bunny of the hour?" Like everybody else, the vixen had been surprised when she first saw Judy walk in and immediately asked her about Bellwether and everything that was on the news, but after the rabbit explained that she wasn't free to discuss everything, Percy dropped the subject immediately and had not brought it up again. Judy was very appreciative of it, and the two have been very friendly ever since.

After a quick scan of the overhead menu, Judy decided to try something new that morning, "I think I'll take the 'Vanilla and Caramel Latte' with extra whipped cream, please?"

"Take-away, right?"

"Yup!"

"Diabetes in a cup and a black hole, coming right up!" cheered the vixen before turning around and getting to work on the massive brass coffee machine.

After a couple of seconds, Nick snickered, and Judy's ear swiveled to him. "What's up?"

"It's just that your order really reflects your personality. Sweet to the point of nausea and extremely clichè," said Nick with a smug grin.

Judy's ears quickly dipped behind her back in annoyment, before springing right back up when she became almost pensive, rubbing her chin and looking at the ceiling. "Bitter as all get out and so black and gloomy it's draining the light around it. Yeah, you're right, our orders _really do_ match our personalities!"

Nick put his paws in surrender, "She parries and strikes back! I yield!" he said with his usual dramatic flair.

She just rolled her eyes at his antics and shook her head with a faint smile of her own. Somehow their usual banter always managed to help her mood. She didn't want to kill him _as much_ anymore.

Finally, the barista came back to the counter and plopped down two cups. "Here we go. Anything else?"

"No, we're good thanks," said Nick.

"Then it will be $12 please."

Before Nick could get his wallet out of his pocket, a crisp $20 bill got slammed on the counter. "Keep the change!" said Judy.

"I could've covered that, Carrots."

"Then next time be quicker on the draw!" rebutted the bunny with a smug grin.

Nick grew a grin of his own. She was learning fast. Going on at this pace, she might be able to outfox him in a decade or two.

With their cups in tow, they made their way out of the little coffee shop and towards the supermarket a couple of blocks down the street.

"So what do you have in mind for food, Carrots? Except your namesake of course," asked Nick before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Very funny, Slick," said Judy with a very monotone voice, before taking a sip of her coffee too. If you could even call it that. It tasted delicious, the vanilla and the caramel blending in together very nicely, but the amount of caffeine in the brew was close to zero. Still, she was enjoying it.

"Thanks! But seriously, anything in particular that you want to buy?"

"Not really no. Maybe some snacks like chips or candy, you don't have any back at the apartment."

"Snacks? Really? I know you're younger than me, but I didn't think you were still a teenager Fluff," said Nick with an arched eyebrow.

"Hey! We bunnies have an extremely fast metabolism, okay? We need to eat like all the time. And with my normal lifestyle, I need to eat even more. I burn calories like gasoline," said Judy.

"Huh, would never have guessed. Well, snacks it is then. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of, but I'm sure that walking around the supermarket something will strike my fancy. What about you?" she asked taking the last sip from her cup. She liked the "coffee" so much she didn't even realise how quickly she finished it. She would definitely buy it again.

"Well, I guess I'm kinda in the mood for some fajitas, so cheese, peppers, onions, and tofu are on the list. Oh! And shrimp too. It's been ages since I had some," listed out NIck while finishing his coffee too.

Judy's ears stood up and turned to the fox, "Shrimp? I thought you were vegetarian?"

Nick bobbed his head, " _Technically_ I am, yes. I eat vegetable and tofu most of the time. But once in a blue moon I like to eat some fish too, but it's crazy expensive, so it's more of a treat than anything," he explained.

"But you said that you don't like meat?" asked Judy still confused.

Nick raised on finger, "I said that I don't like the taste of _bugs_ , I never mentioned fish."

"So basically you lied," clarified Judy with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Again, _technically_ I didn't lie. Just didn't tell the whole story," pointed out Nick with a familiar condescending tone.

"This is the same thing as the whole 'Red wood with a space in the middle' deal, isn't it?"

"You're catching on faster and faster, Carrots. Soon you'll turn into a fine hustler," said Nick jokingly.

"I think you should focus more on becoming a cop yourself rather than turning me into a hustler, Slick," said Judy. There was no malice in her voice, but Nick could tell she was somewhat serious about it.

"Where's the fun in that?" was his response both in his head and out loud.

Judy sighed, "You really are incorrigible."

"Mmh. Come on, the supermarket is just around the corner."

* * *

"Alright, we got all the basics, now we can indulge a little," said Nick looking at the cart he was pushing. They were already strolling around the place for a good ten minutes and had already put all the "essentials" like bread, milk, and drinks in the cart.

"Well, the chips aisle is right there, wanna start with that?" asked Judy pointing forward.

"Actually, I want to get the shrimps first, before they run out if it," said Nick.

Judy's ears fell behind her back, and she looked somewhat uneasy, "I.. I see."

Nick quirked an eyebrow, "Something wrong?"

The rabbit fidgeted on the spot, "If it's the same for you, can I wait for you here?"

Nick's eyebrow went further up, "Okay… Why?"

Judy looked downright bashful now, and the fox didn't know what to think of it, "It's just that I... don't deal really well with fish…"

It finally dawned on Nick that Judy was a rabbit. _Prey_. And he was about to drag her to the most predatory part of the supermarket without second thought. He was really losing his touch. "Oh yeah, sure! No problem! I'll make it quick," he said before dashing to the fish counter on the other side of the shop, all the while cursing in his mind.

After his irritation fueled semi-run, he reached the counter and was somewhat relieved to see there wasn't much of a queue in front of him, only to be immediately demoralised to see an old lady, a sea otter, currently being served. She wore thick glasses and was asking a myriad of questions to the poor lynch behind the counter. This was gonna take a while…

After 10 minutes that felt like 10 hours, it was finally Nick's turn. The old otter seemed to be a sweet little lady, but holy smokes she couldn't make up her mind. Luckily enough the wolf and the dingo still in front of him after the otter was done were much quicker with they're shopping.

He was somewhat let down to see that they _did_ run out of shrimps, but they still had prawn. It was much more expensive, but also much bigger than shrimp, so half a pound of those would be more than enough to make risotto for one.

Happy with his purchase, he swiftly made his way back to where he left Judy, with his double bagged (so that the rabbit wouldn't smell or see) prawn in the cart. After he rounded the corner of the aisle and was ready to apologise to his soon-to-be partner, he froze on the spot. Judy wasn't alone. She was chatting away with another rabbit. A _buck_ rabbit. He was the same height as her, with brown fur and a cream muzzle.

After a split second, Nick backed around the aisle corner, feeling like a thief who'd almost been caught burgling a house. Which immediately made him frown. ' _Why the hell am I hiding?_ ' One side of him asked. ' _She seemed to be hitting it off pretty well with him, I just don't want to get in the way,_ ' the other side said. ' _Yeah, that's it! Yeah, I just don't want to get in the way!_ '

A third voice appeared in his head, ' _And exactly_ why _shouldn't I get in the way? She's being all lovey-dovey with someone else; meanwhile, I'm here looking like an idiot!_ '

"Why should I care if she's being 'lovey-dovey' with someone else?" he asked himself out loud, which made him feel like even more of an idiot.

' _Don't play dumb, Wilde,_ ' was the dry response from his inner voice.

"I'm not!" he said, offended with himself. He needed to get his brain checked after this.

The voice snorted, ' _You can read another mammal's feelings from a mile away, but when it comes to yourself, you're illiterate._ '

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

' _Take another look at those two and tell me how you feel._ '

Against his better judgement, he slowly peeked around the corner again. Judy and the other rabbit were still there, chatting. She was looking at him, her ears up and pointed towards the buck. He had her full attention. She was also smiling. A small pleasant smile. She seemed happy. He couldn't see the buck's expression, but by the way he standing and gesticulating, he appeared to be enjoying himself too.

Nick's chest seemed to tighten out of nowhere. He caressed it with a paw, "What?"

' _Illiterate._ '

Was he being jealous? But why? Sure she was his friend, but he had no reason to act this way. Then why was he feeling himself turning green? This made no sense!

' _Hey Sherlock, while you were trying to solve this mystery you've been spotted,_ ' his inner voice brought him back to the present. Judy was looking at him with wide eyes. She seemed almost alarmed. He was about to dip back behind the aisle when Judy's eyes snapped back to the buck in front of her. Her ears, however, didn't. They were still pointed at him. A closer look showed that her paw, rested slightly behind her, but still visible from his perspective was making a small "come hither" motion.

Another quick glance his way, and a more definite signal of her paw. Finally, a light bulb popped over his head. She wanted him to go there. She wasn't enjoying her conversation with the buck. She wanted him to come save her!

For some reason, this made his chest swell after feeling tight as a lock for the last minute or so. ' _How did you make it to 32?_ ' his inner voice sounded again. It was starting to get on his nerves.

' _Shush you, I need to help my friend._ ' Nick _heard_ the voice roll its eyes, but it didn't speak up again after that. Now that _that_ was taken care of, he needed to come up with a plan to wart off the buck. He could swoop Judy up and walk away like in "An Officer and a Gentlemammal." He could also show up and start being uncomfortably intimate with her until the buck would get the hint and wander off on his own!

...Or, he could behave like a _normal_ mammal and just go there, say hi to him, and just gently whisk Judy away with the excuse that they had to get on with their shopping. Yeah, that sounded like a _sane_ idea. He really needed to check his contacts for a good shrink later.

With a quick sigh and a body shake, his hustling smile was back, and he casually started pushing the cart towards the two bunnies. Judy visibly lit up when she saw him, which made his chest swell a little more. Once she started waving at him, the buck turned toward him too with a curious expression. He didn't seem bad looking to Nick, but then again he wasn't really about bunnies' standards of beauty. Brown eyes, brown fur, pudgy build. He looked like the picture of the average rabbit.

"Sorry, the line at the counter was neverending," said Nick after he was close enough not to shout.

"Oh don't worry about it! By the way, Nick this is Patrick, he heard about the Nighthowlers on T.V. and wanted to thank us. Patrick, this is Nick, we solved the case together and will soon join me on the force," said Judy before practically gluing herself to Nick's side. Was she really that desperate to get rid of the buck? Not that Nick minded, anyway.

The fox extended a paw, "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's mine," said Patrick giving a quick and disinterested shake before turning towards the cop once more, "Anyway, as I was saying I would love to know you a little bit more. There's a small cafè a couple of blocks down the street, if you want we can get a coffee?" he asked with a winning smile.

A smile that irked Nick to no end. For some reason, he really wanted to verbally tear down this rabbit. Regardless, he decided to keep his tongue in check and let Judy answer for herself.

"Ah, thank you, but I already had coffee today. Besides, I'm here with Nick, so…" was Judy's gentle let down. She really hoped the buck would get the hint.

He didn't. "Well, they sell smoothies too. And I'm sure Nick wouldn't mind, right big guy?" he asked lightly elbowing Nick in the side.

In 20 years of hustling, Nick never had to rely on his acting skills as much as he had in the last 2 weeks. All he wanted to do right then was to shove the rabbit's elbow far up his ass and tell him to get lost. Instead, he acted almost apologetic, "Well, I don't know… We're buying groceries for tonight's dinner, and if I don't get the right thing, _I'll_ be the one dealing with her."

"Yeah, what he said! Wait, what do you mean _deal_ with me?" asked Judy almost offended.

"You get a little… _difficult_ when you're hungry Carrots."

"Do not!"

"Wednesday."

"Okay, I may have overreacted a little, but-"

"You cried, went into a fit of rage, started laughing hysterically and cried again. All because the pizza guy was running 10 minutes late," said Nick counting each point on his fingers.

"Oh come on, you're exaggerating it!" protested Judy.

"Am I?"

Before she could reply, Patrick cleared his throat and made himself known to the two again.

"Oh you're still here," said Nick with almost genuine surprise.

"Yes, I am. I just wanted to ask if I could have your number, Judy? Since you're busy now, we can maybe get in touch later next week, go see a movie or something?" asked Patrick with a staunchly polite tone. He was persistent, that's for sure.

Judy was wracking her brain trying to find a good excuse to turn him down again, "Oh, uum, well…"

Nick decided to put an end to this pitiable exchange, "Listen pal, I hate to break it to ya, but the lady is clearly not interested. So why don't you take the hint, go back to your groceries and we'll do just the same," he said with his usual smug grin and a slightly condescending tone. It reminded Judy of the first time they met.

And just like the first time they met, Patrick was getting irritated, " _Listen pal_ , if I ever need your opinion I'll be sure to ask you, but for now how about you let the _lady_ talk for herself?"

Nick shrugged, "I'm just trying to save the both of you some embarrassment, really."

Patrick's foot stomped for a second, which put Judy somewhat on guard. He was getting angry, fast. "I don't need you to save anything except your breath," he said with venom in his voice.

That was Judy's cue to step in the conversation. She knew Nick well enough to know he wouldn't back down from a verbal bout, but Patrick seemed ready to escalate the fight to the next level. "Alright, that's enough. I'm sorry Patrick, but Nick is right. I'm not interested in going out right now. I've tried to be gracious about it, but you didn't seem to _get the hint_."

If Judy bitch slapped him then, he probably would've looked less baffled. "If that was the case, you could've just said it clearly," he said with a mix of embarrassment and resent.

"I just did," was the ice cold answer. She was done being nice, and she still had some anger in the back burner from that morning to let out.

Both males recoiled the slightest bit, and Patrick decided to leave with what little dignity he had left, all the time mumbling under his breath.

Nick chuckled and looked at Judy, who was quickly stomping her foot with her arms crossed and a miffed expression on her face. "You didn't need to go for the throat there, Carrots."

She snorted, "Yes I did. I tried to be gentle, but it didn't work at all, he just kept talking over me and pushed the subject more and more! I thought that with you here he would _get the freaking hint_ , but he was relentless!"

"Yeah, didn't want to take no as an answer, did he?"

"Well it was about time he learned," said Judy with a resolute nod.

"That's the spirit!" said Nick.

"And thanks. For coming over, I mean." She looked almost embarrassed, and Nick couldn't figure out why.

"Hey, I told you didn't I? Whether it's to save the world or to fend off thick headed suitors, you're stuck with me," he said with a sincere smile. He meant that.

Judy lightly punched him on the shoulder, "You're so corny," she said in a mocking tone, yet she couldn't wipe that stupid happy grin from her face.

Nick turned back towards the snacks aisle and started pushing the cart, "So, now that this fun little window has ended, you wanted to get some snacks, right?"

"Oooh, I could die for a granola bar right now! That conversation was draining!" said Judy bringing a paw to her forehead and stepping into pace with him.

"And you say _I'm_ a drama queen," he said.

Judy shrugged, "You're just a bad influence I guess."

"I don't know, Carrots. I'd say you're pretty extra on your own," said Nick before mimicking her gesturing in the pit and mouthing "Blood! Blood!"

Judy gasped loudly and brought a paw to her chest, "How dare you say that!" She turned her nose up, "And to think that I thought you a friend!"

Nick chuckled, and Judy harrumphed, "I can't believe it! I shall never trust you again!"

"Alright, now you're milking it," said the fox.

With a little laugh, Judy dropped the act, and they went on with their shopping and with their banter.

* * *

"Nick, I _am not_ using that. End of story."

The fox and the rabbit were glaring at each other inside the small bathroom of Nick's apartment. Or more accurately, Judy was glaring at what was in his paws.

* * *

After their grocery run, the duo came back to the apartment and decided to have a quick lunch and go back out for a walk in the park and maybe the mall. It was such a beautiful day out, it would've been a waste to sit inside.

They started with the mall, since it was too hot outside, and even the shade of the trees in the park would've done little to help. So, they window shopped a bit and played at the arcade that was located on the 5th floor. Nick dominated Judy at every shooting game they found, while the bunny destroyed him at every racing simulators they played. All in all, they were both satisfied with their victories, so other than friendly banter, no grudges were held this time around.

After the two had exhausted all the fun to be had at the mall, they ventured towards Savannah Central Park. It was still heinously hot outside, but unless they waited until sunset that would not change anytime soon, so they just decided to deal with it. As soon as they arrived, they found a snow cone vendor and ran to it like their life depended on it. It helped a lot.

With their refreshment in paw, Nick and Judy opted to find a bench under some shade and cool of for a bit. It worked like a charm, and both of them felt like it added ten years to their life. When both felt like they rested enough, they ventured into the actual park. Judy had visited once, but it wasn't under the best of circumstances. Another riot broke out during the Savage Mammals outbreak, and she was trying to defuse it. So while she hadn't the fondest memories of the place, it was still nice to see it under a different light.

Obviously, it wasn't long until someone recognised her, but this time it was actually a pleasant experience for the bunny. A bunch of kits who were playing soccer in an open grass patch of the park ran up to her with big eyes full of admiration and a million questions. What she liked the most about them was that they were all of different species, both predator and prey. It was nice to see that kits didn't let Bellwether tarnish their world.

After she managed to calm them down and accidentally let it slip that she used to play soccer a lot too when she was younger, they all started begging her to play with them a bit. It would've been next to impossible to say no to all those round eyes and trembling lips, so she agreed, even against Nick's very loud disagreement.

"Carrots, _you know_ your leg is gonna kill you if you play. We even left your cane back home!" protested the fox.

She was quick to dismiss Nick's worries, "I'll be _fine_ , you're just being a worrywart. Honestly, you're starting to sound like my mother!"

"I'm just trying to look out for you."

"Thank you, but there's no need. They're just kits, I'm gonna be okay."

"Alright, you know what? Fine, do what you want. But don't come back to me crying after you inevitably hurt yourself," was Nick's disgruntled response.

Judy shook her head and started walking towards the awaiting kids, "Just like my mother," she said under her breath.

"I heard that!" She laughed.

The games went well, and they even managed to pull Nick into the last one. He got utterly demolished. He tried to defend himself saying that he played baseball as a kit and that he didn't know how to play very well, but everybody knew that the real reason was the he had two left feet. After that, the kits excused themselves saying that they had to run back home lest they get an earful from their parents, and seeing as dinner time was approaching Nick and Judy decided to do the same.

On the way back, Nick noticed Judy walking funny. She wasn't limping yet, but she was putting less and less weight on her right leg. "Everything alright Carrots?" he asked with complete nonchalance.

"Yup! Why do you ask?" said Judy with a smile so forced it was painful to look at.

Nick shrugged, "Just wanted to make sure, that was a lot of running around chasing a ball we did back there."

"Nope. Everything's fine over here!" she said with a little pained laugh at the end.

Nick quirked an eyebrow, ' _If that's the game you wanna play…_ ' "Good, then since I still got some adrenaline going on, wanna race to the apartment?"

Judy's ears went rigid, and her face was screaming panic, "I- Isn't it a little far?"

"Nah, no more than 9 or 10 blocks away. Come on, it'll be fun!" Nick continued to push.

Judy was grasping at straws now, "I don't know Nick, the sidewalk isn't really a race track…"

"Oh stop being a killjoy. Ready? Go!" he said before taking off.

"Wait!" She tried to catch up to him, but she didn't make it more than 10 yards before tripping. "Ow ow ow!"

Nick stopped immediately and ran back to her to help her up, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Nick gave her a quick once-over anyway, "Are you ready to admit your leg hurts yet, or do you wanna do some jumping jacks first?"

Judy tsked, "If you knew it hurt then why did you start running like that?"

"Because the sooner you realise it's okay to admit defeat and rely on others the better," he said somewhat sternly. He knew and understood that Judy had to rely only on herself most of the time, but she didn't need to anymore. Especially if she wanted them to be partners.

After a sigh, he turned and crouched in front of her. "Come on."

Judy's eyebrows furrowed, "What are you doing?"

"You can't walk like this, and we don't have your cane. Hop on."

"I don't need you to carry me, Nick, I can make it back to the apartment."

"Either you get on my back on your own, or I pick you up like a sack of potatoes. Your choice," he said. It was very much an ultimatum, and Judy knew that.

After looking for a way out and finding none, she reluctantly climbed on him, "This is so embarrassing…"

Nick snorted, "I'm sure there are worse things out there."

"I can't think of any right now." The fox got a laugh out of that.

* * *

The journey back to his home was relatively smooth, barring the odd joke at Judy's expense. It was now time for the two to get a shower and eat dinner. Which leads us to where we are right now. Nick was worried that with her leg hurting like that, and with how she tired herself out that afternoon, Judy could slip and fall. That's why he was holding a small stool, and why the rabbit was trying to light it on fire with her glare.

"I told you, I'm _not_ using it, and that's it!" She already swallowed her pride when Nick gave her a piggyback ride all throughout the city, she wasn't about to use a stool to shower.

"And I told you I'm not risking you falling and hurting yourself more Fluff," said Nick. He wasn't backing down, especially since she already didn't listen to him that day and paid the consequences.

"Listen Nick, I know you're worried about me, and while I appreciate it, it's getting annoying." She was fed up. Sure, having him so concerned about her was cute at the beginning, but now it was overbearing. Every time she did something more exerting than eating or sleeping, he would get into a frenzy and start chasing her around with that damn cane! Sure, a couple of times he was right to be worried, but now he was being ridiculous.

Nick sighed, "Alright, I'll back off, but please try not to kill yourself in my shower? It would be a nightmare to explain to my landlord," he said before getting out the bathroom and closing the door behind him. He sighed again and looked down at his paw, still holding the stool.

He really was being overprotective, and he couldn't understand why. A small voice echoed in the back of his conscious, yelling about illiteracy, but he paid it no mind. With a shake of his head, he decided to actively work on being less oppressive and set off to make dinner after setting the stool back on the balcony.

Ten minutes later he was halfway done with dinner, and Judy was fresh out the shower and most undoubtedly alive. "No broken bones, no concussions, and no bleeding gashes. Looks like I can still take a shower by myself!" said Judy with a mix of joking and reprimanding.

Nick rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, you made your point already. Dinner's still cooking so you can watch T.V. while you wait."

She sniffed the air a couple of times, "Mmmh, smells really good! What's the menu?"

"Veggie fried rice for you, and prawn risotto for me," he said pointing at the two different pots on the stove, "And before you ask, _yes_ I did use different utensils."

Judy gingerly made her way to the kitchen. Her leg wasn't hurting as much anymore, but was still very sore, "I wasn't gonna ask, but thank you anyway." She peered her head above the pots and looked at both dishes. The fried rice looked and smelled amazing, and she was getting hungrier just looking at it. The risotto on the other paw didn't look too hot to her. The odd prawn or two that were popping up everytime Nick stirred it were really putting her off. She had to admit though, if only to herself, that it _did_ smell good too.

After another couple of minutes, the food was ready, so Nick and Judy sat down to eat.

Judy took a greedy forkful of her rice and almost moaned, "You keep saying you're not that good of a cook, but this is amazing!" she said before veritably _shoving_ more rice in her mouth.

Nick snorted, then took a small bow with his head, "Thank you, glad you like it." He took a bite of his own risotto and was happily impressed by it. Then again, it was so long since he had a bit of fish, that even if it were burned to a crisp, it would've still tasted good to him.

In no time flat, Judy had polished off her plate while Nick still had more than half of his risotto left. "Someone was hungry," joked Nick.

"Haha… Yeah, whenever I exercise a bit I always get super hungry," Judy said with a small awkward laugh, "Speaking of… is there a bit more rice left?"

Nick's ears sprang up, "Uuh, no, I cooked only a small bit thinking it would be enough for you," is what he said. What he thought, however, was, ' _That was almost a three mammals serving! How can you still be hungry!?_ '

Judy quickly waved her paw in front of her, "Oh, don't worry about it! It's fine, if I'm still hungry in a bit I'll eat some snacks!"

"I mean, there's still some risotto left if you want," said Nick shrugging.

Judy grimaced, "Ew, no thanks."

"What do you mean 'Ew'? You haven't even tried it!"

"In case you haven't noticed Nick, I'm a rabbit. Rabbits don't eat fish."

"And in case you haven't noticed, I'm a fox and yet I still eat vegetables."

"That's different!" cried Judy.

Nick's eyebrows furrowed, "How's that different?"

"I don't know! It just is!" said Judy before crossing her arms and glaring at him.

Nick tilted his head and looked at her, perplexed, until a mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes and a smile that promised nothing good snaked on his maw, "You're scared!"

Judy's ears pointed straight to the ceiling, followed by her eyebrows, "What? No I'm not!"

"No, no, it's fine! I understand! At the end of the day, even the great Judy Hopps has her limits, it's only natural," said Nick with an almost mocking understanding tone.

Now, Judy knew _exactly_ what Nick was doing. He was ribbing her until she would explode and actually try eating the risotto. She knew, and that's why it pissed her off twice as much that it was working. "I _told you_ , I am not afraid of fish!" she growled.

"And I told you it's fine! You don't have to pretend anymore Carrots. I just find it a little funny that a little prawn was all it took to-" Nick didn't get to finish the sentence before a very irate Judy basically jumped on the table, snatched the fork from his paw, and took a bite of his risotto.

Both of them stood still for a moment, a shocked expression on both their faces. Nick was the first to recover, "Well, that was unexpected. Thought you were gonna strangle me for a second there," he said with a small laugh at the end. Judy didn't react. "Carrots?"

Judy slowly put the fork back and crawled back to her seat. Finally, she swallowed the risotto. She stared at her plate, seemingly lost. _It was delicious_. She couldn't understand it, she was a rabbit, she wasn't supposed to like meat of any kind and yet she _loved_ the taste of prawn. It didn't make any sense.

After seeing acting so out of it, Nick was starting to get worried, "Fluff? Are you okay?"

Judy's eyes snapped to him, and she glared like she just saw her worst enemy, which made him recoil. "I hate you," she said, before standing up, taking her plate and walking to the stove to get herself a serving of the risotto.

It took Nick a moment to process everything, but when his brain finally got up to speed, he could barely contain his laughter.

Another death glare was thrown his way, "What're you laughing about?"

He quickly suppressed his last giggles and cleared his throat, "Nothing! Nothing!"

"That's what I thought." happy with the amount of food in her plate, Judy went back to the table and started eating again. She loved every bite and hated every moment of it.

As amusing as it was to watch Judy hate-eating, Nick decided to try and calm her down a little, she had been on edge all day, and he didn't know why, but it wasn't a good look on her. "Well, now you have a whole new plethora of restaurants that you can try in the city!"

"Please stop talking," was Judy's flat response. Not the best start, but one nonetheless.

"Oh come on, what's that song say? 'Try everything' and all that? You're just trying new things!" Nick tried to pander to her with Gazelle. He had noticed that Judy really liked the musician, so he hoped that maybe this would help.

It didn't. "Look, this is hard enough to rationalise as it is, I don't need you trying to downplay it."

"What is there to rationalise?" asked the fox. He really didn't understand what she was talking about.

"I'm a rabbit eating meat! And I'm doing it because you taunted me with the sole intent of making me do this. And to top it all off, I'm actually liking it! Not. Normal," said Judy in an exasperated tone. Really, the situation was bad enough as it is, having Nick spouting nonsense was not helping one bit.

The fox just stared at her for a beat,"Wow, you really are a country bumpkin aren't you?"

Judy's glare returned at full force, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"This is Zootopia Carrots. While it's not an everyday thing, it's very common for prey to eat the occasional fish or bug burger," he said shaking his head. He now understood why she was making such a big deal out of it. While he was used to see the random prey enjoying some protein now and then, Judy grew up in the sticks, where eating meat was probably as much of a taboo as murder. If not worse.

"What?" She was completely lost.

"Don't get your ears in a knot over it, Carrots. You liking prawn is far from outrageous," said Nick in a gentle tone. He hoped that would finally calm her down and make her realise that she wasn't a freak of nature, and by how he could practically see the gears in her brain working overtime, it probably worked.

"Is it really okay for me to like this?" Judy asked timidly. She was starting to understand her situation wasn't an anomaly, but she still needed a bit of confirmation from Nick.

Nick smiled, "Of course it is! It's not a crime Carrots. The way I see it, you're just enjoying some exotic food."

Her ears perked up at that, "Yeah, exotic food! You're right! Nothing bad about that!" she said with more and more conviction in her voice.

Nick played along, "Exactly right! I mean, who doesn't try some weird things once in a while, right?"

Judy nodded excitedly, "Right?"

"Besides, it's been decades since the last know cannibal rabbit, so you'll probably be alright!"

" _ **WHAT!?**_ "

It was too much for Nick. The completely rigid ears, the wiggling nose, and the look of utter horror on her face did him in. He started laughing so hard his stomach hurt.

After a moment, Judy's brain kicked back into gear, and she realised the fox was pulling her leg. "You're dead."

And they were off! For the following 15 minutes, Nick ran around his apartment trying to save his hide from a murderous bunny, while Judy chased the as good as dead fox to impart rightful smiting upon him. Regardless the outcome of this life or death race, one thing was for certain; they would both sleep like rocks that night.

* * *

 **A/N: This is gonna be another semi long author's note, so brace yourselves.**

 **First and foremost, big news: The story got featured on ZNN! That is CRAZY! I never expected that this sad excuse of a fic would get so much attention, and I am beyon humbled by it. And I have only you guys to thank. I hope to make it all worth it by the end of this journey.**

 **Second, this chapter originally was supposed to be a small break from the back to back drama of all of its brothers, and ended up running away from me. Seriously, I wanted it to be no more than a 4k filler fluff chapter, and instead it ended up being this... this... THING! I don't know where I went wrong, but you get what you get.**

 **Third, and this is a bit personal so feel free to skip it if you don't care about my life outside of fiction, my life is about to flip upside down again. This week, my girlfriend is traveling to my hometown to meet my family and to spend some time together, and after that in September I'm moving to England and we're gonna live together. I know, pretty crazy right? So, while I'm not gonna say it's not possible, I wouldn't expect a new chapter before that. I'm sorry, but moving to another country isn't as easy as they say and it's gonna take a lot of my time.**

 **Okay, now that all that boring stuff is dealt with, tell me what you thought about the chapter! I know it's not the most exciting update, but it's my attempt at spacing the story a bit, and not bombard you with constant drama. As always any and all criticism is more than appreciated!**


	10. Chapter 10 - A New Beginning - Part One

After the almost chaotic day that was Saturday, both fox and rabbit decided that having a lazy Sunday on the couch was the best course of action. And it was, for the first three hours, until boredom started killing Judy from the inside. No matter what Nick tried, nothing seemed to keep the bunny's attention for more than ten minutes.

Come 3pm, Nick was out of ideas to entertain her, so he just asked her what she wanted to do and braced for impact, preparing himself for the inevitable trek around the city.

Judy surprised him, however, "I want to talk about you joining the ZPD," she said with resolution in her voice and hesitation in her eyes. It was clear that the topic had been eating at her, but she didn't look too confident in bringing it up.

"What do you mean?" asked Nick, still thrown by the sudden request.

Judy started playing with one of her ears, "Well, I know you said we'd talk about it in the weekend and I don't wanna push you, but it's Sunday already, and you haven't said anything…" She sheepishly shrugged, "I just wanted to know if you still wanna do it."

It took Nick more than a moment to process what Judy just said. To say it was the last thing he was expecting would be an understatement. Yet, it wasn't unexpected either. He _did_ say they would talk about it and he _did_ not-so-unintentionally avoid to bring it up, which made him frown. _Why_ did he do that?

He shook his head and focused on the present again. His musing could wait, for now, he had an apprehensive bunny to deal with. "Worried I'd ditch you, Carrots?" he said with a joking tone and a smirk. He reasoned that a bit of humour might help her gloomy disposition.

"Yes," was her sincere and sad answer.

Which took him another moment to process, this time without as much success. "Huh?" was his incredibly articulate response.

Judy briefly glanced over him and looked away again, shrugging once more. "I understand, really. The first time I asked you I immediately messed up royally, and the second time I was in distress, so you probably felt pressured into saying yes," she said while still playing with her ear. "I keep forcing you into these situations and-"

Nick cut in before she finished the sentence, "I'll stop you right there," he said with a stern expression that took Judy off guard, "First off, you _really_ need to stop with this 'forcing you' shenanigan. It's getting annoying. You didn't force me to fill the application the first time, and you sure as hell didn't force me to accept the second time. You _offered_ me the chance to change my life, and I happily accepted both times." His tone was as stern as his expression. Judy felt like she was being lectured and started acting a bit defensive.

Seeing that, Nick decided to change gears. "Second off, I made you a promise Judy, and I am a fox of my word. You're stuck with me, whether you like it or not," he said with a much more gentler tone and expression. That, coupled with his use of her real name made Judy relax. He really meant it.

Taking a deep breath and growing a small smile Judy finally looked at Nick in the eyes, "Thank you."

Nick smiled back, "You know, I was kind of joking when I called you bunnies emotional, but you're definitely living up to it."

She lightly shoved him on the shoulder, "Shut up. You never let me enjoy those moments when you're not a pain in the tail," Judy said with a smirk.

"Can't have you get used to it, can I?" he said with a smirk of his own.

Judy chuckled and shook her head, "You're unbelievable." Nick just chuckled. "Well, that still leaves us with one question," she said.

Nick's ears perked up, "And the question would be?"

" _When_ do you want to do it?" she asked with some trepidation.

' _She really_ is _afraid that I changed my mind,_ ' he thought while looking at Judy. Her nose was wiggling like crazy, and her eyes were glued on him. ' _But why?_ '. Nick sighed, "If I say tomorrow, will you let me enjoy the rest of today on the couch?"

Her ears snapped up, and her eyes grew like saucers, " _Really?_ "

"Yes, really."

Judy smile grew from ear to ear, and she brought her paws to it before unleashing an ear-splitting squeal and diving for a bone-crushing hug, "I can't wait!"

"Neither… can… I…" said Nick, trying not to die from asphyxiation. That bunny really didn't know her strength. After a few more excruciating seconds, Judy finally let go of him, and he could finally look forward to a lazy Sunday of nothing but T.V. and junk food.

…

…

…

"This movie is getting really boring, isn't it?" Judy asked. Nick just groaned.

* * *

"C'mon, Nick! We don't wanna be too late, or the Chief'll be too busy to see us!" yelled Judy from the living room.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" yelled back Nick from the bedroom. He was already regretting the whole thing, waking up before 8 a.m. should be illegal. That and _those damn pants were not collaborating!_ Seriously, what was with that rabbit and skinny jeans?

Luckily, Monday was the last day of their deal. Unluckily, they both had the idea to be _witty_ with the last outfit. That's why, when he finally managed to pull those stupid jeans up, Nick got out of his room looking like Judy did when she came back to Zootopia. It was definitely not his style, be he could understand why she liked it. The flannel shirt was very comfortable.

Judy on the other paw had absolutely no idea how Nick could dress like this every day. The khakis were too slack, and she almost tripped on them every other step, and while the shirt was silk, it was also an eyesore like no other. Not to mention _that damned tie!_ She was trying to tie the knot for almost ten minutes now.

That was the scene Nick walked into when he entered the living room, Judy sitting on the sofa frowning at her tie. "Need help with that?" he asked.

"The damn knot keeps tangling itself up!" she said with frustration.

Nick got in front of her, kneeled down and started working on the tie, untangling it first, "Didn't they teach you how to tie a knot at the academy?"

"No, but they taught me how to take down a rhino," Judy said matter-of-factly.

Nick scoffed, "I'm sure they did."

"Want me to demonstrate?" she asked with a daring smile.

Nick looked up, her eyes were _begging_ him to say yes. He cleared his throat, "You know what? I'll take a pass on that," and went back to working on the tie. Judy chuckled.

Moments later he finished a simple Windsor knot and left it a little loose. "Perfect," he said looking at his handiwork.

Judy looked at herself too, and what she saw was far from perfect, "I seriously can't understand how you can go around town every day dressed in the equivalent of a punch in the eye in shirt form," she said looking back at Nick with a raised eyebrow.

Nick mirrored her expression, "The same way you can go out looking like the mascot for a brand of paper towels," he said waving a paw up and down, pointing at his outfit.

Judy raised a finger ready to counter, when the image of the mascot he was talking about, a brown bear clad in flannel and jeans, appeared in her mind. Her counter died in her throat and her pointed finger curled on itself. "You win this battle, but not the war," she announced solemnly.

Nick chuckled, "Duly noted." He reached for his wallet and his phone on one of the bookcases by the T.V. by the door. "Ready to go?" he asked Judy.

Checking her pockets for her own phone and wallet, the bunny nodded, "Let's go, _partner._ "

"Let's not make any hasty assumptions, _partner._ I haven't even been accepted into the academy yet," he said opening the door and letting Judy go first so that he could lock it.

"I know, but I have this feeling, call it a hunch if you will, that everything is gonna be alright," Judy said.

Nick snorted, "Be careful with those Carrots, they tend to backfire," he said with his ever-present pessimism to which Judy just rolled her eyes. "Besides, where does this 'hunch' even come from?"

Judy gave it some actual thought. It was a legitimate question, and she didn't know the answer yet herself. "I don't know. I guess I just have faith in you," she said turning to face Nick with a sincere smile and big honest eyes.

To this day, Nick isn't sure how his heart started beating again.

* * *

After a relatively short commute to the city center- Nick lived in Downtown Savannah, which isn't that far from Savannah Central, but it's still 6 subway stops away- the pair found themselves at the bottom of the steps leading to the Precinct 1. They both were trepidant, but for different reasons.

Judy was nervous but in a good way. After taking down Lionheart for the kitnappings and the following press conference, her colleagues had mixed reactions. The prey on the force had a little more respect for her, she proved to be more than just a meter maid. The predators on the force, however, didn't take to kindly to what she said on stage like the rest of the pred community, and understandably so. It had a significant impact on Judy, and she worked relentlessly to fix the situation until she couldn't take it anymore and went back to BunnyBurrow.

Now, she would come back after solving yet another major case, one that no one even knew existed, and after clearing the names of all the predators in Zootopia. She hoped that her colleagues forgave her and that she could try and be on good terms with them again, but at the same time, she feared that her words would still linger in their minds.

Nick on the other paw, was scared shitless. He was about to walk into a police station, _of his own volition,_ to see if he could join their ranks. Let alone the fact that it would be a life-changing decision; currently, he was a seasoned hustler. He conned so many people in the past that it was almost impossible that the police didn't have a file on him. Actually, he knew it was impossible, because Judy managed to get his tax records, so he was in the system. Now, no matter how "technically legal" his hustles were, they were still hustles.

That, coupled with the fact that he was basically about to ask the Chief for a favour. The same Chief that he antagonised _multiple times_ and that was very clearly not happy with his existence. Yup, a walk in the park.

So, with both their hearts working overtime, they began to slowly ascend the steps in front of them, both to be mindful of Judy's leg and to buy as much time as possible without standing outside the doors to the precinct like a pair of idiots.

Once they reached the top, Judy grabbed the handlebar of the first door in front of her and took a big breath. "You ready?" she asked Nick.

Nick took a breath of his own, although more surreptitiously. "I'm always ready," he said with confidence that he didn't feel at all. With a nod, Judy pushed the door open, and they both stepped inside.

* * *

 **A/N: So I know this is a very short chapter, and it came after such a long wait, but as I said in a previous Note, my life has been/is a bit chaotic right now. As a consequence, I neglected writing even more than normal. Since I don't know when I'll be able to write again after I move in two days, I decided to at least give you this. Take it as a prelude to what will be the actual next chapter. Once I'm done with it, I'm gonna merge the two into one.**

 **Lame apology now over, I hope you enjoyed this little snippet nonetheless. As always any and all criticism is more than appreciated!**


	11. Chapter 11 - A New Beginning - Part Two

The cacophony of sounds inside the precinct was reassuring to Judy. Nothing had changed in her absence. Officers were running to and fro, some just starting a shift, some ready to go home others were dealing with the almost constant influx of civilians wanting to dispute a ticket or report a supposed crime.

For Nick it was a little unsettling. No matter how many times he would repeat to himself that everything was gonna be fine and that he won't end up in a cell, the amount of blue uniforms around him made that thought seem wishful thinking more than a fact.

All of a sudden an ear-splitting squeal trumped every other noise in the lobby. The rabbit half expected it but wasn't sure if it was coming. The fox was completely unaware of such a possibility and nearly jumped out of his fur.

When the screech ended, a yellow and blue sphere approached Judy at very high speed followed by what seemed to a be a very fast chanting of " _Ohmygoodness,"_ before stopping inches from her nose and picking her up for a tight hug.

"Oh my Goodness, _Judy_! I'm so glad to see you! I missed you so much!" Benjamin Clawhauser nearly shouted. Nick was happy to see that Judy had other friends in the city. "I heard all about the case. That despicable ewe got what she deserved, and it's all thanks to you! I was so happy when I heard you were back in town, but then the chief told us you were injured and I got so worried!" the cheetah rambled on almost all in one breath, a plethora of emotions interchanging on his round face.

Judy tried to speak, but she was being squished so hard by her friend, that all that came out was a muffled guttural sound. When Clawhauser noticed how tight he was hugging her, he apologised and gently set her down. After a coupled of strained breaths, Judy was finally able to talk, "I'm glad to see you too Ben, hope you didn't miss me too much!"

"Girl, you know I did! But enough about me, what about you? Are you okay? What did the doctors say? Where have you been?!" Clawhauser was officially in rapid fire mode, and Judy was struggling to keep up.

A couple of steps back, Nick was watching the little scene going down and was enjoying every second of it. The words of Judy's brother echoed in his mind, it really was quite a sight whenever Judy got flustered. He chuckled when Judy explained to her friend what happened in the pit. His eyes were so big and full of worry that it made him look like a cartoon character.

In less time than it took Nick to blink, Clawhauser, for lack of a better word, "teleported" less than an inch away from Nick's nose, scrutinising him with the same big eyes her had glued on Judy a second ago and a smile so wide it reminded him of a purple striped cat from an old story.

The fox flinched and took a step back, "Woah! Hi! Welcome to my personal space, how can I help you?" Ben's response was another squeal that, even if not as ear-splitting as the first one, still made Nick flinch again.

"You must be the fox that helped Judy! Rick, was it?" he asked with as much glee as a kit in a candy store.

"Uh, yeah it's me. Nick, actually, Nick Wilde." He offered his paw to the excited cheetah in front of him more out of habit than anything else, and immediately regretted it. The much bigger mammal was a bit _too_ excited and started shaking his paw so vigorously that he actually lifted the fox off the ground.

"It's so nice to finally meet you! I heard so many stories about you!" Ben said, not letting go of Nick's paw.

Luckily Judy came to his rescue, "Put him down Ben, I need him in one piece if he's gonna be my partner!"

Ben, finally realising what he was doing the poor fox, let go of him and started to apologise profusely, before what Judy said clicked in his head. "Wait, _PARTNER?!"_ A gasp and another squeal. This time both Nick and Judy were ready for it. "Oh my Goodness this day keeps getting better and better!" he said while giggling and jumping on the spot.

"Calm down Benji, you're gonna get a heart attack!" said Judy with mirth in her voice. She missed Benjamin, and she missed seeing him this excited.

Nick was still trying to recover from the pawshake. He felt like he went through a blender, but wasn't particularly mad at the cheetah for it. He seemed like a nice guy if a bit too excitable.

"C'mon, what are we waiting for! Let's go get you an application!" said Ben, turning and walking towards the front desk of the lobby. Judy was about to say that he didn't have to take time off work for them when she realised that the desk was empty, and the cheetah was walking confidently to it.

"Wait, Ben! You're back on front desk?" she asked with a hopeful smile and tall ears. The cheeky grin he gave her was more than enough. "Oh I'm so happy to hear that!" she said after jumping up and hugging him at the neck.

"Not as happy as I am! Working in records is bad enough, but working near the boiler room in the middle of summer should be classified as torture!" he said before setting her down on the counter and going around it to get on his seat.

After a quick search through some drawers, he produced an application form, handing it to Nick. "Here you go. Oh, I'm so excited! You're gonna look so cu- I mean _adorable_ working together!" He quickly looked at Judy to see if he was clear, but the death glare she was giving him said otherwise.

While the two coworkers were catching up, Nick filled the application for the academy a second time. When he first did it, he made quick work of it, in less than a minute the form was ready to be handed in. This time, he took a little more time. He wasn't having second thoughts mind you, but this time it was more apparent to him that this was gonna be truly a life-changing decision.

He would have to stop seeing most of his "friends" if he could call them that, and his contacts list would get cut in half, if not more. Not many crooks want to talk to a police officer, some might even come after him. And he was doing all of this just because a bunny asked him to.

A quick glance to the bunny in question and Nick realised that the sentence wasn't correct. Not completely. So, after a quick sigh, he filled the last couple of points in the form and signed it. He stole another glance at Judy, and this time she was looking back at him with a small smile on her face. He smiled back and winked, showing the filled form to her. Judy's smile grew, this was the true beginning of their adventures.

"Clawhauser! Where are the reports I asked for this morning!" The booming voice of Chief Bogo came through the intercom on Benjamin's desk and caught all three of them by surprise.

The cheetah was the first to react, quickly pressing the talk button, "I'm sorry Sir, I got sidetracked! I'll bring them to you immediately!" he said while frantically gathering folders and stray pieces of paper.

"What do you mean you got sidetracked!? You literally had no other task today!" Bogo's voice was getting louder and louder by the minute.

Ben pressed the button again, "I know Sir, but Officer Hopps came in and-" he didn't get to finish his sentence.

"WHAT!? What the hell is she doing here? She's got one week still before she's clear for duty!" Bogo screamed down the intercom. It was a miracle the poor plastic box didn't crumble with the vibrations.

Ben went to press the button again, thought better of it, lowered the volume of the machine to zero and then finally spoke into it, "She came here to accompany Nick Wilde Sir, he wants to put in an application to join the academy."

" _ **WHAT?!**_ " was the immediate and incredibly loud response. Ben checked to see the volume of the speaker again, surely he must've raised the volume instead of lowering it. It was on mute.

Three stories above them, Chief Yumba Bogo was feeling a migraine coming fast. Of course Hopps couldn't just stay at home and recover like a normal mammal, and of course, that insufferable fox would follow her. Then again he should've expected it, they were almost literally glued at the hip when he last saw them.

That didn't mean he was happy about any of it. Getting up from his desk and displaying a great deal of self-control simply not smashing through the door, the Chief got to the railing facing towards the lobby and shouted "Hopps! Wilde!"

The two mammals peeked their heads from both sides of the front desk, "My office. Now!" Bogo said pointing behind him and disappearing from view.

Nick and Judy watched the back of the cape buffalo as he walked away, then looked at each other. "He remembers my name. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing," quipped Nick.

"Definitely a bad thing," Judy and Ben answered in unison.

* * *

After a quick and apprehensive elevator ride to the fourth floor, Nick and Judy stood in front of the Chief's office. After gulping almost simultaneously they looked at each other, "So, do you think this is gonna be just a friendly catch up?" asked Nick with sarcasm and just a hint of hope in his voice.

Judy's ears wilted a smidge, "Somehow I doubt it…" she said.

"Stop confabulating outside my office and GET IN!" Bogo commanded from the other side of the door. Both Nick and Judy's ears snapped at attention, and the rabbit jumped up to the handle to open the door.

The office hadn't changed from the last time Judy saw it, with the only exception being the map of Zootopia on the wall. Now instead of being covered with pictures and information on the Missing Mammal case, various red strings of cotton were taught between tacks, keeping track of points of interests for another case. From the small tidbits of information scribbled on post-its next to some of the tacks, Judy deduced it was an investigation on a drug smuggling ring, but couldn't figure out what kind.

Nick on the other paw noticed other details rather than the map, like the fuming buffalo sitting behind the massive desk in the middle of the office. Bogo was staring daggers at both of them. This wasn't the first time he found himself in this position, and if he managed to be accepted and enroll to the academy it probably wouldn't be last, but he was sure that the fur behind his neck would raise every time. To say that the Chief was intimidating would be an understatement.

Luckily, in his years of hustling, Nick met even scarier individuals and had to learn how to not let his emotions show during negotiations, which was precisely what he was doing right now. He was wearing a completely neutral expression with the smallest hint of a smile. The only thing that could give away his internal turmoil was the occasional and very subtle twitch of the tip of his tail. Otherwise, anybody looking at him would the see the very picture of calmness.

Too bad he was in a room with a very attentive bunny and a seasoned Chief. To Nick's credit, Judy thought nothing of it and was impressed with how well he was handling the situation. Bogo, however, saw right through his facade and was pleased to know he was squirming under his gaze. Not because of some sadistic reason, but because that if pressured, the fox would slip up and make a mistake. And that was all that was needed for the Chief to send Nick packing and stop this buffoonery.

After another moment of silence and staring, Bogo finally spoke, "Sit."

They moved closer to the two big chairs seated in front of the desk, and without a word Nick propped his knee and laced his fingers together, boosting Judy up. Once she was atop the chair, she turned around and offered a paw to Nick, helping him climb up himself before sitting down next to each other.

The whole thing seemed so natural one would think they had practiced it for years, but in reality, they had known each other for little more than a week. Bogo noticed it but didn't voice his thoughts about it.

Deciding against letting them stew for a while more, the Chief turned his attention to Judy, "How is your injury coming along, Hopps?"

Judy sat a bit straighter and answered with a professional tone, "It's healing as predicted, Sir. The gash has almost completely cicatrised, and the stitches are due to be removed in three days."

Bogo nodded, "Good. I trust you are following the doctor's orders and aren't putting too much strain on your leg?" he asked.

"Of course, Sir," said Judy. Nick desperately wanted to voice his disagreement but thought better of it. The last thing they needed right now was to start a discussion about it in front of the Chief.

Another nod, "I assume a member of your family has travelled to Zootopia to help you at home?" he asked staring directly at her soul. He didn't ask her this just to make sure that Hopps was taking care of herself, but also to confirm a hunch he had the moment they walked in his office.

Judy faltered for a moment, "Huh… No Sir, they haven't. I'm huh, I'm staying with Nick at the moment. He was generous enough to open his home to me until I can get back on my feet and find a new apartment in the city," she explained. Her professional tone still present, but mixed with a bit of awkwardness. She still didn't like explaining to other people how she imposed on Nick, no matter how many times the fox assured she was doing no such thing.

Bogo had stopped listening after Judy said she was living with him and turned his stare to Nick. "Yes, _very_ generous of you Mr. Wilde."

Nick shrugged and put on a nonchalant smile, "What can I say? I'm just the kind of person that can't turn away from a friend in need," he said, mustering up all the charm he could find and just a tiny bit of smugness. '" _The Wilde Special," capable of making its way into anybody's heart. It works every time.'  
_

It didn't work. "Hmm. Hopps, can you please leave Wilde and I alone? I would like to talk to him in private."

Both fox and rabbit's ears wilted a tad at the prospect, "Sir, I'm sure that Nick wouldn't mind-" Judy tried to convince Bogo to let her stay, but he cut her off.

"That was an _order_ , Hopps," he said, never breaking eye contact with Nick.

Judy gulped and her ears folded behind her back completely, "Yessir," she said, saluting the Chief. With a last apologetic look to Nick, she jumped down the oversized chair, walked out the door and closed it gently behind her.

As the door closed, Nick turned back to the Chief, "Is there anything wro-" he tried to ask, but Bogo cut him off too, this time with a raised hoof.

" _Hopps!_ " he almost shouted. Nick was confused for only a second before he heard a startled "eep!" coming from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of small rabbit feet scuttling away.

Nick was ready to speak again, but Bogo beat him to it, "What are you doing here, Wilde?" he asked with a grave face and the tone to match.

The fox went right back to being confused, "I'm sorry I don't-" The Chief cut him off again, clearly not pleased with how his response was shaping up.

"What are you doing here?" he asked again with the same tone and expression.

Nick was still lost, "You were the one that called-" and once again he was cut off.

"What are you doing here?" Bogo was starting to sound like a broken record.

' _A rude broken record_ ,' thought Nick. He was getting fed up with being interrupted before he could finish a sentence. "Is this a joke?" he asked.

The Chief leaned forward a little in his chair, "The only joke here is you, Wilde." Before Nick could protest, Bogo soldiered on, "I did some research on you, back when you decided to play hero with Officer Hopps and made me look like a clown in front of my Officers. Want to know what I came up with? Nothing. I couldn't even find your Social Security Number in our records.

"Which obviously raised all kinds of black flags. No matter who you are or what you do, our records always have something to show under your name," he said making sure to never break eye contact with Nick. He wanted him to realise his mistake in being over-zealous and not leaving _any_ trace of his existence behind. It worked, judging from the flick of Nick's right ear.

After a moment, Bogo continued, "So I decided to call some of my old C.I.s, and the picture they painted of you was less than impressive. Low-level hustler, no notable criminal associations and always quick to turn tail and leave anybody behind when things get difficult." The Chief made another pause, this time to see if any reactions from the multiple jabs at him made Nick antsy.

This time, however, the fox seemed nonplussed. The erratic twitch of the tail was still there, but no other signals of distress or rising temper were showing. Nevertheless, Bogo continued and baited him harder, "The only notable thing about you, is that you have connections almost everywhere in the city. That's how you managed to fly so low under the radar to basically disappear. Would've worked too, if you didn't go too far with it. Amateur mistake, really, but nothing more than I would expect from a small-time crook that never had the guts of doing nothing more than robbing the elderly of their savings with ridiculous scams that a five-year-old could've come up with."

Still nothing. Nick was just sitting on his chair, looking at Bogo with raised eyebrows and an almost amused face. "Are you done trying to belittle me, or do you want to take a stab at the size of my penis too while we're at it?" he asked with a bit of mockery and a lot of smugness. He was a fox. He grew up with mammals making fun of him and insulting him, and he learned to tune them out. He learned not to let them get to him. Bogo's attempt wasn't even in the running for the worst tear down he ever got.

Seeing that needling Nick was leading to nowhere, Bogo decided to cut to the chase, "Despite what you think of me, I'm not stupid. When Hopps tangled you in her investigations, you saw an opportunity to gain from it. If you could somehow manage to convince this rookie that you would make a good cop, and use her to get a recommendation for the academy, a lot of doors would open for you. You could gain access to all kinds of information and use them for your 'hustles.'"

Nick snorted, "And I assume that's because I'm a fox, and all we do is lie, cheat and steal?"

Bogo's eyes hardened, and he raised his voice, "No Wilde, that's because you're a lowlife criminal that's been known for stabbing mammals in the back to get what you want!" he shouted. Nick wilted a bit in his chair. He didn't expect the Chief to cut so close to home.

"You might be able to fool Hopps, but not me. So I'll ask you one last time Wilde; What are you doing here?" Bogo asked leaning dangerously close to Nick's snout over the desk.

It took a moment for Nick to calm his beating heart enough to hear his thoughts and another one to come up with an appropriate answer. "You're right. I am every single one of the things you said. I was also discriminated against, belittled and almost every mammal I knew made fun of me because of my dreams. _And so was Hopps._ "

Before the Chief could cut in again, Nick rushed to make his point, "You know what else she is? Something that I never was? _Strong_. Strong enough to keep going even though everyone was against her. Strong enough to fight discrimination, stereotypes and a literal rhino. Strong enough to fight _even you_. All so that she could make her dreams a reality." Now it was Nick's turn to fix the Chief with a piercing glare. On the outside he was stoic, but Nick was good at reading mammals too and could see that his speech had the desired effect. Bogo was listening.

"When I first met her, I thought that she was destined to fail. A bunny cop? In Zootopia of all places? She wouldn't last a week," he said with a little contempt. "That was the first time she proved me wrong. After I gave her a good dress down and felt very happy with myself for behaving like the people I'm so quick to judge, she found me again and set me up for failure. If I took her down a peg or two, she took me down twenty." This time, there was something akin to pride in his voice. Bogo was still stoic, but now it was apparent he wanted to see where Nick was going with his speech.

"So obviously, I had to do everything in my power to make her fail. I couldn't stand that someone was able to achieve their dreams in the same environment and situation that made me give up. And I did. I took every chance I had to set her up for failure again and make her life hell. But again she proved me wrong, and was still able to work through my interferences and continue her investigation." Nick took a moment to himself to think and decide how to finish his monologue and drive the point home, and Bogo used that time to size him up again. He couldn't figure this fox out.

Finally, Nick nodded and was ready to say his last piece. "When she saved my life the first time I started to respect her. When she did it the second time, I started to trust her. That's why I stood up to you back in the Rainforest District, I trusted her and knew that together we could solve the case. And we did, only for her to unwittingly break that trust. It hurt me more than I would've imagined, but I moved on. That's what I always did. Hopps however, didn't. She came back and poured her heart out to me trying to apologise, and I forgave her without a second thought. She meant every word she said to me, and she's still trying to apologise. She still _trusts me_.

"She also believes in me, so much so that she's asked me to join her in her dream. I have done a lot of things, most of them bad, but I could _never_ break that trust. I know how much it hurts to have your dream ripped from you. I know how much it hurts to have your trust broken. And I'm not about to do that to Judy. She's the first one to see me for more than just a fox in a very long time, and I want to prove her right." Nick took a breath. He meant everything he said, but he never thought he would say it. Not out loud, and definitely not to Bogo of all mammals. Still, it felt good voicing his feelings, which in turn felt extremely foreign to him.

On the other side of the desk, Bogo was even more confused. He thought he had Nick figured out to a tee, but now he was not so sure anymore. They stared at each other for a while, neither of the two giving in to the other, and the Chief could not find a shred of deceit in the hustler's eyes.

At length, Bogo broke the silence in the room, and with a very threatening tone said, "Give me your application."

* * *

Judy was pacing frantically up and down the front desk, "They've been in there for almost an hour now! What could they be possibly be talking about?!" she said turning to Clawhauser, who had been trying to calm her down since she came back from the Chief's office.

"Don't worry about it Judy," he said, "I'm sure everything is alright. Besides, the worst thing the Chief could do is arrest him, and if he does he would call an Officer to his office to take Nick into holding!"

Judy's eyes widened, and her ears went rigid, "That's it. I'm going back in there!" she said before motioning to jump off the desk.

"Judy wait! If you barge in there, you're only gonna make things worse!" Clawhauser pleaded barely catching Judy by the scruff of her shirt and setting her back on the desk.

Judy turned around and spread her arms in disbelief, "I can't just sit here and do nothing! He could need help!"

"Who could need help?" said a voice from under the counter. Both Judy and Benjamin peeked over it and found Nick standing there, looking a little worse for wear but otherwise completely fine.

"Nick!" Judy jumped down from the desk and started checking the fox from top to bottom. "Are you okay? You were in there for so long! What did Bogo say? Did he question you? Did _you_ question him? _Please_ tell me you didn't call him Buffalo Butt again!"

"Woah! Calm down there Carrots, everything is okay," he said with a chuckle. "Chief Buffalo Butt _did_ question me, but I had an answer for everything he threw at me. In the end, he was satisfied with what I had to say."

Judy's face belied a little of the anxiety and worry she felt for her next question, "And, about the application…?"

Nick scratched behind his neck and looked away, "Yeeeeah, about that…" he said with disappointment in his voice.

Judy's ears plummeted to the ground, "Oh no…"

A smile snaked across Nick's muzzle, "The next train to the academy leaves in three weeks, I have until then to sort all my personal matters," he said with overwhelming smugness.

"Nick!" Judy shouted before punching the fox square on the shoulder with far more force than you would expect from someone so tiny, "Never do that again! You scared the frick out of me!" she said with righteous anger.

Nick was furiously rubbing the spot when his joint once was, "Yup, I deserved that."

A bright smile soon appeared on her small muzzle, however, "Eeeek! I'm so happy! We're gonna be partners!" she said before diving in for a hug.

Nick almost lost his balance from the force of impact, but managed to regain his footing and awkwardly return the hug, "Don't get ahead of yourself Fluff, I got accepted to the academy, but only because Bogo cashed in some favours from the council. In return, he promised me that if I do _anything_ to make him regret his decision, he would, and I quote, 'Make sure that I spend the rest of my life rotting in a prison cell regretting having ever been born.' And last but not least, to get assigned to Precinct One I have to score within the five percent of my class. "

Judy's hug didn't relent, "I know it's gonna be tough, but I believe in you, Nick! I know you can make it."

Nick's heart skipped another beat or fifty, "You really gotta stop doing that Carrots, a guy can only take so much."

She looked up to him with her head tilted to the side, "What do you mean?"

At that moment, Clawhauser decided to make his presence known again, "Aaaawwwww, you two are so c- _adorable_ together!"

Nick chuckled, "Nice save there, Spots."

"And before you get any strange ideas, we're just friends Ben. So you better not spread any rumors, or your tail is mine!" Judy threatened. It worked, Clawhauser hugged his tail in horror.

"What's with you and tails Carrots? It's like you have an obsession," said Nick.

"Shut up! We don't have time for your banter right now, we need to go back to the apartment and start prepping for the academy!" Judy said before starting to drag Nick through the lobby.

Again Nick almost fell face first to the floor, "Easy Carrots, we have three weeks ahead of us."

Judy looked almost horrified, "Three weeks are nothing Nick! We need to start immediately if we want a chance to be ready," she said, picking up the pace, "See you later Clawhauser!"

Nick was struggling to stay on his feet by now, but still managed to turn around and fire a quick two-finger salute to the cheetah, "See ya soon buddy, keep your fingers crossed for me! Hey, Carrots hold up a sec- _woah!"_ And with that, they were out of the door.

Clawhauser sighed and lowered the paw he was waving with, "He has no idea what he just got himself into," he said wistfully, resting his chin on both paws.

* * *

After a wild subway ride back to his apartment, Judy practically burst through the door, still dragging Nick from the precinct. "Alright, you sit here and start looking up what you'll need for the academy on your phone, I'll call Jeff and ask him to send me my old books here. We also need to come up with a work-out schedule later, you're not gonna last an hour if you don't get in shape Wilde," she said before shoving Nick on the couch and running to the bedroom.

"Hey!" he protested, "First of all I'm in fantastic shape, thank you very much! And second of all, there's still- aaaaand she completely ignored me," he said after Judy shut the door behind her. He couldn't help but laugh a bit. ' _It's so quintessentially_ her _that I can't even be mad._ '

He took a big breath and sighed, before looking around his apartment. It had been a crazy morning, and the day was still young. His "friendly chat" with Bogo had drained him more than he would have imagined, but in the end, the buffalo wasn't nearly as bad as Nick originally thought. After he was sure that Nick wasn't lying, he did all he could to help him get in the academy even though the recruitment time slot had come and gone by more than a month. His exact words were, " _As I said, Wilde, I'm not stupid, and I know to recognise when I made a mistake. I did it with Hopps, and I'm doing it with you as well. But don't think you're off the hook just yet. I'm gonna keep a close eye on you while you're at the academy._ One mistake _, and you're out._ "

Nick snorted. Old Buffalo Butt was still a mystery to him, but a new picture was starting to paint in his mind, one that wasn't as grim as before. And the picture didn't include the Chief alone, but everything else as well.

It was all about to change, and he couldn't wait. His new life was about to begin, and he only hoped the old one wouldn't come back knocking on his door.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

* * *

 **A/N: Got to England, opened a bank account, got a job interview, celebrated my birthday, got laid for my birthday. Three weeks in a summary. How was your three weeks?**

 **All jokes aside, life has been crazy but good to me. That's why I'm able to release this chapter WAY before I'd anticipated. It's maybe a bit of a clichè, especially in this fandom, but hey! So is my whole story! So I hope you like it in all its clichè-y glory.**

 **As always any and all feedback is highly appreciated!**


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